Slipups Of The Ghostly Kind
by SquirrelGirl13
Summary: This came to mind one day. Danny and Dash have a little runin and then Mr. Lancer starts asking questions and... well, you'll have to read it and see, I don't want to say too much. Mostly from Lancer's PoV. Hey, I'm a Lancer fan!
1. Chapter 1

**_DISCLAIMER:_ No, I don't own Danny Phantom and this will be the only chapter I post that on... if you don't read disclaimers then tough luck. **

**...Anyway, I don't expect anyone to like this... it being my first Danny Phantom fic, but I like it so... mah! **

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1**

"Hey Fenton!"

Danny turned around at the familiar shout, shutting his locker as he did. Long experience had taught the boy that whenever Dash approached him it was safer to have all locker doors shut.

"Guess what! I just got my math test back and you know what I got?"

Danny chose to remain silent. He knew Dash had failed or the jock wouldn't be yelling about it. He just stared at Dash, his unblinking, icy-blue eyes meeting Dash's angry ones.

This happened every day, Dash taking out his latest "F" on the 14-year-old freshman. Sometimes he didn't even have to have any apparent reason, he just decided to keep up his little "tradition."

"Well" Dash demanded.

"Dash, if you're gunna take your F out on me can you hurry it up? I've gotta get home." Danny said in a resigned voice.

Dash, however, took the request as some sort of challenge and gave a roar as he lunged at the raven-haired teen. His hand found the collar of Danny's white and red t-shirt, lifting the boy in the air.

"You're gunna regret talking back to ME Fenton!" he yelled, slamming Danny into the lockers behind him.

Any other day it would have ended there, with that threat, same as always, but not today. Today, Dash decided to take every bit of his unfounded rage out on his smaller classmate. He rammed his free fist into Danny's stomach, causing him to let out a startled gasp, his bored expression quickly flying off his face, replaced with one of panic.

Dash socked Danny across the face with all he had, as the startled teen's eyes flashed a glowing green. There was a yell and the next thing the blonde knew he was slumped on the ground across form Danny with his head throbbing. He looked up from where he was at Danny's expression of shock, seeing the boy's eyes return to their normal icy-blue before falling into darkness.

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MWAHAHAHAHA!

Please R&R and tell me what you think. Other chapters will probably be longer but, since this is the first one I wanted to keep it short so I can decide if I desired to go on... yes I did use the word desired.

If I get even one positive review I will post the next chapter... why upset one person because others don't want to read this... If they don't want to read it they don't have too. HA! ... yea, anyway... fear my evilness! BWAHAHAHA!

_...and scene._


	2. Chapter 2

**_DISCLAIMER: _Thank you GhostAnn and Pterodactyl for the reviews! I shall continue.**

**Wow… I fixed a mistake in this story and the disclaimer disappeared! Oops.**

**As I said in my disclaimer before it became invisible, Danny isn't in this chapter, sorry. He's in the next one.**

**BTW, if you haven't noticed, I hate Dash. I think he's an aaa…jerk…yea…sweatdrop**

**Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2**

There were far away voices. Dash could barely make out what they were saying let alone who they were.

"That bump looks horrible, how long will he be out?"

"He should wake up soon, though I still don't understand what happened. How could such a small kid do this?"

"Well, apparently he panicked when Mr. Baxter decided to 'up the ante' on the boy."

"But, how can such a scrawny kid like Fenton have such well developed leg muscles? To send a kid as" she paused and glanced at Dash, "… muscular as Mr. Baxter across the hall hard enough to make a dent in the lockers would take a great amount of strength." Again she paused. "Have you talked to Mr. Fenton yet?"

"He is in my office at the moment and I will be speaking with him after we're finished here."

Dash finally identified the speakers as the school nurse and Mr. Lancer. He groaned as he tried to lift his head. It felt like a 2-ton brick.

"Ah, you're awake" Mr. Lancer said as he helped to prop his student up against the pillows.

"Oww, my head."

"Yes, you will probably be feeling that until tomorrow night at the least" said nurse Rose kindly. The jock made a grumbling noise and the nurse smiled.

Lancer wasn't nearly as patient however.

"Well, it was your own fault wasn't it?" he stated matter-of-factly, "You were the one to throw the first punch, am I correct?"

Dash couldn't believe he was being questioned like this! Surely, his teacher could have waited until his head stopped throbbing! He was sure Fenton was probably feeling just fine, sitting there all pleased with himself for getting the better of him.

"Fenton cheeked me sir." He replied, looking up at Mr. Lancer, "He dared me to try hitting him."

So what if it wasn't true, Dash had a rep to protect and Fenton probably didn't feel anywhere near as horrible as he felt. His head gave another throb.

Lancer sighed. He didn't believe the teen's story. He wouldn't believe anything until he spoke with Danny.

He had seen part of the fight, from when Dash had yelled Danny would regret saying something or other. The youngest Fenton hadn't looked taunting or even interested in what was going on at all, he merely looked bored and, perhaps, faintly annoyed, that is, until Mr. Baxter had punched his classmate in the stomach. But even then the child hadn't looked frightened, only panicked. Lancer had been heading over to stop the football player from seriously harming the boy when the boy in question had let out something between a warning shout and a battle cry and launched his attacker clear across the hall, damaging at least one locker and causing his classmate to pass out. Only luck had saved the athlete from getting a concussion, well, that and a hard head.

Lancer gave said athlete a look that clearly said, "I don't believe you and we'll discuss this later" and walked out of the nurse's office, headed down the hall to his own where young Mr. Fenton was awaiting his punishment.

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MWAHAHAHA! 

Review please and I will continue. Or you can flame me if that's the path you choose. I don't care… flame and I will make pancakes. I like pancakes!

Again… I think this is what I had before… it all disappeared! WAAHH

Haha! Runs off to listen to Lion King soundtrack.

…_and scene_


	3. Chapter 3

**_DISCLAIMER: _****Yay! This one's even longer…. And was harder to write… mind you I have no idea how exactly how this will end…. But I'm along for the ride.**

**Thank you Pterodactyl, Eame Kali Phantom, purrbaby101, Ghostboy814, Anomaly25, and iamratgirl for the reviews! Oh, and iamratgirl, I do like waffles more but I don't use flames to make them, I use a waffle iron! **

**Yea….Mr. Lancer's office has been rearranged from the last time we've seen it… the desk is in front of the window instead of wherever it was before…I am the author... I have the power to do that so HA!**

**And, I must say, I think Danny is always too hard on himself, especially in that Spectra episode. The poor guy needs a break….Dash's leg would actually be a nice choice! Mwahahaha!**

**Enjoy!

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**Chapter 3**

As the teacher entered his office, he found Danny had arranged the chair he was currently occupying so that he had both the door and window in sight, as opposed to the chair's usual position simply facing the desk. He also noticed how Danny's eyes had widened when his teacher had entered then given him a quick assessment, as if to make certain it was really Mr. Lancer. Only then had the boy slouched back in his seat looking resigned.

If Lancer hadn't been looking for unusual behavior, he wouldn't have seen his student's actions. The boy was so discreet, quick, and thorough, Lancer realized he had probably gotten the same greeting before without even noticing it. That thought unnerved him a bit and he found himself wondering more and more about what exactly has Danny Fenton been through to require this amount of alertness and caution.

He walked around his desk and leaned one hand on it; the other behind his back, noticing Danny gave that hand a swift glance before switching his icy-blue gaze to Mr. Lancer's face.

He was most definitely going to have to watch this kid more.

"Well Mr. Fenton" Danny switched his gaze down to the table, "Care to explain what happened?"

Danny just kept his eyes down and his mouth shut, instead of launching into excuses and accusations like many of his classmates were known to do. He didn't even give a cheeky "No" or something akin to it like some of Lancer's bolder more outspoken students did. He just sat there, eyes not really seeing, as if he were spellbound by his own thoughts.

"Mr. Fenton." Lancer said, startling the boy, who jumped up and looked wildly around.

"Wah…where…" Danny looked at his teacher standing there flabbergasted and sat back down, his cheeks a deep red, but not before Mr. Lancer noticed the boy give the door, window, and, to his surprise, ventilation ducts, a quick look over, not as though he wanted to leave, for he hadn't so much as glanced at the clock as many teens do, but as if to assure himself of ways to make a quick exit should something go awry.

"Umm…" said Danny, looking like hi didn't know how much to say or how best to word it. Lancer had never seen a 14-year-old put that much actual thought into what they said, or perhaps he just took it as staling for time.

He would have to keep those assumptions in check.

"Mr. Baxter told me you dared him to hit you" Lancer said, hoping to get some sort of response out of the boy. Danny looked up, not surprised with an "of course he did, are you dense?" expression on his face.

"Do you believe him?" Danny asked as if he really didn't care what the answer was.

"Not a word" Lancer said.

That _did_ surprise the boy. He looked at his teacher as if expecting him to shout "April Fools!" but he didn't.

"Are you going to tell me how a boy your size could catapult a football quarterback into a locker hard enough to nearly give him a concussion?" Lancer demanded.

Danny looked down again, his eyes full of the one expression Lancer didn't anticipate. It wasn't shock, or secrecy, or smugness. No, the child's eyes reflected an angry self-loathing that seemed to have been deeply imprinted in him. The teacher immediately felt bad for mentioning the near concussion. He shouldn't have said anything about it. However, that didn't stop him from wondering why a 14-year-old would have such a horrible feeling look like he'd felt it, not just once, but several times before. Not to mention he still wondered how a skinny apparently un-muscular boy could have done what he did to Mr. Baxter.

But before he could first apologize for mentioning the injuries then demand answers anyway, Danny spoke.

"Is…" he paused a moment as if willing himself not to break down, "Is Dash ok?"

Lancer hadn't expected this at all. Danny's concern seemed to be for Dash rather than his punishment and, to Mr. Lancer, that was truly touching. He hardly thought before he replied.

"Fine. He should recover soon enough."

It seemed like that lifted some of the weight off the teen's shoulders, though he still looked dejected.

"I should have let him hit me," Danny mumbled to himself, "if my stupid reflexes hadn't kicked in…" He stopped; realizing he had said that aloud and instead stared moodily at the floor, that self-loathing never leaving his eyes.

Lancer was, to say the least, shocked at his student's comment. _Let_ Mr. Baxter hit him! Just let himself be trounced so he wouldn't hurt his attacker? Lancer had never expected _anyone_ to ever say such a thing.

And the tone with which he said it. He sounded as though he were terrified of what he could have done to the young athlete. As if he believed he could have caused him even more harm than a concussion.

And what did he mean, reflexes? What had he _been_ through to require _those_ kinds of reflexes?

Lancer walked around his desk and grabbed his student, who nearly fell backwards in his chair, by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Mistmantle Chronicles! Why would you say such a thing? He exclaimed, Danny's eyes widening in shock and worry, "Does your own health mean that little to you?"

Danny gazed back down at the floor.

He couldn't believe this boy! _How_ could he have such skewed views on his live?

"Listen to me Mr. Fenton" Lancer said.

Danny didn't meet his eyes.

"Look at me" he commanded. The boy complied, slowly bringing his gaze up to meet his teacher's.

"You had every right to defend yourself. Don't let anything, or any_one_, convince you differently."

Danny, his eyes still as wide as dinner plates, nodded in shock. Letting go of the boy, Lancer continued, knowing that was probably the most he was going to get out of him right now.

"I personally don't believe you should be punished at all seeing as it was a case of self-defense, but the school board is a different matter. Considering the extent of Dash's, this is off the record, well-deserved injuries, the school most likely won't let you go without punishment. So, …" here he paused looking at the boy in front of him, still in the same position as when Lancer released him, eyes still staring at where Lancer had been, shock still evident oh his face, "Mr. Fenton," Danny shock himself and turned to look and his teacher, "Saturday detention. Meet me here, two o'clock sharp."

"But, believe me, Mr. Baxter _will_ also be punished for starting the fight. And as you also have injuries…" here he looked up to indicate Danny's bruises then faltered.

Yes, Danny had bruises, but unless Lancer was going mad, the one on his face was much less prominent and seemed to have done a full day's healing in less than two hours.

Danny saw his stare and winced.

"Uhh, sir…I uhh need to… get home… before my parents start to worry?" he said tentatively.

"Wah... Oh, yes… yes you can go… remember Saturday at two."

"Yes sir" Danny said.

He practically flew out of the room.

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Hehehe! No it's not the end... he still has detention... and I might put in tommorow at school as well. 

Yes...this did happen a Thursday.

This was the most fun to write, just because I like making Lancer discover strange habbits about the little halfa. I still don't know if I'll have him find out, but it'll be fun to build up to it. MWAHAHAHA!

yes well... Reviews are always appreciated ! Flames are acceptable too, I like fire. And I'm warning you now, the next chapter will mos likley take longer to get up here since I have lots to do for that nuisance of a thing called school so... be warned.

_...and scene_


	4. Chapter 4

**_DISCLAMIER:_** **Hey! I'm baaaack! Sorry about the long wait, schoolwork, one acts, prom, and writers block abducted me from my room and I had to fight them and their Giant Projects of Death off with only a sharpie, a dress, and a stuffed parrot. And I would have failed had some midget muggers not decided to take pity on me and beat off some of the school problems…**

…**I'm strange, I know. **

**On a saner note, I'd like to thank purrbaby101, Phantom2B, Anomaly25, Esme Kali Phantom, Ghostboy814, Writer's-BlockDP, Pterodactyl, iamratgirl, Shades-of-Pink, silvermoonphantom, and LillyOfTheValley for their reviews. You guys rock!**

**And a special thanks to horsegal for proofreading these chapters for me. Don't give anything away ok? **

**Yea, I had wanted to do this entire thing with Lancer calling Danny's parents, but when I attempted to write it the stupid thing wouldn't flow. So I chucked it and got what I wanted in this. Maybe I'll try to change it and fit the thing into another story when I'm finished with this. **

**Again, I don't know exactly how this will end, so just go with me, ok? If you have questions, leave them in a review and I'll try to answer them. **

**Enjoy!

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**Chapter 4**

Danny, Sam, and Tucker walked towards their English class, discussing the latest news regarding the recently injured star quarterback.

"I heard people telling each other he was home sick," the Goth said, using air-quotes.

"At least till the swelling goes down!" joked the tech-geek.

"It's not funny Tuck! What if I had seriously hurt him? What if I had accidentally used my _hi Mr. Lancer_!" he finished loudly, waving at the English teacher with a nervous smile.

"Well we better get to class!" he said seizing his friends by the wrists and dragging them into the classroom, that bogus grin still on his face, "Don't want to be late!" The three disappeared as the door snapped shut.

Mr. Lancer stared at the door in silence, a bit confused and slightly frustrated Danny had noticed him before completing his sentence.

Before he used _what_?

He was jolted back to reality by the ringing of the late bell. He needed to focus on his class but it wouldn't hurt to keep a closer eye on Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley, and Miss. Manson.

He sighed and opened the classroom door. He had hoped he would never have this kind of problem again.

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**_RING_!**

Mr. Lancer looked at the clock, his hand halfway up to the blackboard, then at his class, many of whom were already standing, packing their books away.

He lowered his hand.

"Homework, please read the first three scenes in your book. We will be having a class discussion on Monday…"

"Tuesday!" a couple people piped in.

"Oh… yes, of course, the three day weekend. Tuesday then. Be prepared for this discussion as it counts towards class participation points. Class dismissed."

After the last of his students shut the door Lancer sat heavily in his chair with a sigh. Mr. Fenton had actually not done much to cause Mr. Lancer to worry for the first half of class.

But that hadn't lasted.

Just as he had begun to tell himself that he was merely being silly, Danny had suddenly let out a gasp and started pleading with Mr. Lancer to allow him to go to the bathroom.

Normally, it wouldn't have seemed unusual, but Danny had looked panicked and kept shooting fleeting glances out the window.

"Do you really need to Mr. Fenton? I was just about to introduce our new class book" the teacher had asked.

"_Please_, Mr. Lancer" Danny repeated for the third time, " I _really_ need to go."

Lancer turned to the board. "If you can answer this question you may go."

Silence. He continued.

"What is the title of the Shakespearian work in which a prince is confronted by his deceased father's ghost?"

Lancer turned back around, noting an expression of contemplative mistrust on his student's face.

"Is it Hamlet?" Danny asked after a moment's hesitation, his eyes on Mr. Lancer's desk where a copy of the book lay.

"Yes," Mr. Lancer replied, inwardly marveling at the boy's observational skills, "you may…"

Danny was already out the door, and before the teacher had continued his lesson he noticed the anxious glance Sam and Tucker gave each other.

They know what this is, and it's unsafe enough to get through the thick skull of a teen and worry them, but they'll still help Danny cover it all up. Why?

Did anyone else know?

Lancer looked out the window at a bluebird perched on a nearby tree. It regarded him with an intrigued look.

Lancer rose from his chair and walked to the window, leaning two hands on the ledge.

"How am I going to find helpful information if I don't even know who has it?" he asked the little bird.

It hopped back a bit, startled at the sudden activity, but stayed in the tree.

The man knew the bird wouldn't understand him, but it always helped the teacher to organize his thoughts if he said them aloud, so he continued.

"I know Mr. Fenton won't tell me what's going on. Miss. Manson and Mr. Foley don't seem to be the type to tell either. It could be nothing, but I highly doubt that."

The bird just stood there.

"The strange thing is, I don't hear any of the usual teenage gossip about them to suggest anything's wrong, which leads me to believe they haven't told many other people, if they've told anyone that is."

"But who would those three tell?" He paused a moment, thinking.

"Well, it all really depends on the problem, doesn't it? If it's a problem at school his parents might know, however, if it isn't, if he's having trouble at home…" Lancer shook his head and looked at the bird again.

_If my stupid reflexes hadn't kicked in…_

What would cause him so much trouble he would need to learn how to defend himself to that extent?

_Is Dash ok?_

_I should have let him hit me._

He didn't believe it was the bullying. Danny had seemed too traumatized by the injuring of Mr. Baxter to have learned to fight for that particular reason.

_I uhh need to… get home… before my parents start to worry…_

Lancer tossed the possibility of abuse out the window the moment he thought it. Danny's parents would never lay a hand on either of their children. Not when they were as overprotective as they were.

"Any other problem with family, and his parents or sister would alert the school the moment anything happened, not wait for it to become a problem…" he stopped.

His sister.

Would she know what was wrong? Lancer puzzled over this for a while.

If she _did_ know, the teacher could not believe she hadn't told anyone. She was a smart young woman and protective enough of the baby brother to not let him continue on with anything that could potentially harm him. She couldn't know.

The bird shifted from foot to foot.

"Could she?" Lancer asked aloud again, "It does seem that the two have become closer in the past month. I see them and Mr. Foley and Miss. Manson together much more than I used to. It used to be Danny would stay as distanced as possible from his sister."

He thought about that for a bit. He hadn't seen any changes in the star student's behavior except for the increased closeness between her and her brother. But then again, he also hadn't noticed the strange habits of Danny.

"It would make sense. That might explain _why_ they've become closer. But I don't understand why Miss. Fenton wouldn't tell anyone what's happening. Unless…"

Lancer looked again at the bluebird as it regarded him, its tail twitching some.

"Unless Danny's well-being isn't the only thing at stake," the teacher concluded, "That would mean that this problem won't go away and is probably more dangerous than four teens know how to handle. But what _is_ it?" he asked the air, perturbed.

The bird blinked and tilted its head to the side in a wary sort of way, flexing its wings, ready to take off should Mr. Lancer decide to thrust himself out the window at it.

_What if I had accidentally used my…_

"What, Mr. Fenton, your _what_? _What_ are you up to?" he said, his frustration coming to a peak as he slammed one hand on the window ledge, hard.

The bird took off, leaving a disgruntled Lancer standing there with a throbbing hand and no closer to that answer the he had been that morning.

The teacher glared at the spot the bluebird had been perching as if it were to blame for his troubles. But as the pain subsided, Lancer realized he was getting nowhere blaming the bird and hitting the window ledge was not going to make answers appear.

He turned to his desk intent on grading some of the papers stacked messily atop it and paused. He turned back around and stared at the desk third row from the back and next to the window.

Danny's desk.

It sat there ominously, like one of those dreams with the door at the end of a long hallway. Lancer just stood still, remembering, as all around him seemed to melt away. Only the man and desk left, while the teacher continued to stare at the thing.

"Mr. Johnston, I would like to know why you seem to believe that my class is your nap-time!" Mr. Lancer shouted.

A boy with a mop of messy, dark-brown hair wrenched his head off his deck, hitting it on the open window, getting some badly stifled laughter from his classmates.

"S-sorry Mur Lancer. Dint get muhuhuh…" he said yawning.

"Sleep last night?" the young teacher finished for him monotone, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

The boy nodded, his eyelids drooping.

"Well that's no excuse for slacking off in my class, Mr. Johnston. I would like to see you after school."

The boy grumbled, nodding.

Lancer shook his head, jolting himself back to reality, and strode over to the mocking piece of furniture. He took a small breath of air and held it as he looked inside…

…And let it out when all he saw was a wadded up gum wrapper and the top half of a pencil.

Good.

Of course, freshman then hadn't had lockers so they were more likely to leave evidence in the desks.

The teacher straightened and went to his own and began to grade those annoying papers. He wouldn't let it happen again, he wouldn't let himself fail Danny.

He looked up at the empty desk as a brown eyed boy glared back at him.

No, not this time.

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All right! Nice long chapter and the next one will be posted as soon as I receive four reviews on this one. Comments and suggestions are welcomed with open paws and treasured like my first ever Harry Potter book, and flames are always fun to read so don't hesitate to send those if you don't like it! I'm an actress. I've learned to handle rejection and criticism.

…No officer, I swear, I've never seen these people in my life!

… Well how should I know how they got imprisoned in my closet?

_Urg_, authority figures.

Now I'm off to do a history project and listen to RENT then read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for the 80-millionth time!

Come on Becca…Fanatic is such a negative word! I prefer obsessive.

…_and scene_


	5. Chapter 5

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wow! I wasn't expecting so many reviews in just a day! **

**Thank you purrbaby101, Pterodactyl, Savi2070, Jenna Dax, iamratgirl, Esme Kali Phantom, X-Roosterrelli-X, ****silvermoonphantom, and ****Mikazuki Hime you guys are AWESOME!**

**Ok, the flashbacks might be a bit confusing I'm sorry. But in my defense, I don't mean them to be.**

**_Yea, well I do _**

**Shush! I don't want them to stop reading because a certain penguin is compuzzling them!**

**Sorry 'bout that. Incognito Bob can be a bit… strange.**

**_Is it strangeness, or is it normalcy?_ **

**SHUSH!**

**Anyway, to answer some questions Incognito Bob created: shoots glare at said penguin **

**Yes, Chris Johnston is one of Lancer's past students who had…**

…_**Tribulations.**_

**Yes, problems. Let's leave it at that.**

**I don't really know what made me bring him in this but it's working so I'm going with it. I haven't seen any stories with much of a back-story on Lancer and I like the Shakespeare-obsessive teacher, so I might try a little of background.**

**Oh, and there's no _actual_ reason I chose Hamlet. I just enjoy Shakespeare and that one happens to be the one I am in possession of. I also just liked the fact it involved ghosts. **

**Yay for National Treasure and Sporks!**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 5

Mr. Lancer looked up as his student walked in. The boy began to head towards his usual desk.

"Don't bother sitting, Mr. Fenton. Your detention will be assisting me in the library," Lancer said, standing.

Danny sighed, shifting his backpack to his other shoulder as Lancer walked over to the door, falling into step behind his teacher.

The library was empty. Of course, it would be on a Saturday afternoon. Lancer grabbed one of the metal book-carts and wheeled it over to a table. Danny wandered slowly over and set his bag down on one of the seats.

"Firstly, these need to be put in alphabetical order according to the author's last name" Mr. Lancer instructed, taking a stack of books off the cart and placing them on the table.

Danny grabbed another stack and set them down, then took the last four of the books off the cart and set those on top of Lancer's stack, evening the two out.

"Afterwards, all the books by Shakespeare must go back on the cart while the others get put away. You might want to sort them by that first so you won't have to do as much work" Lancer suggested, reaching into his bag and retrieving a handful of tests that needed grading, "When you finish with the Shakespearean plays, I'll help you put the other books back."

Danny nodded and got to work on the first stack in silence, as the teacher sat and produced a pen out of the inner depths of his pocket.

When Danny finished sorting the books into two new groups he paused, and glanced at Mr. Lancer, who noticed the sudden lack of books thumping on top of each other and looked up.

"Yes, Mr. Fenton?"

"You want these organized by titles, right?" he asked, gesturing to the larger stack of Shakespeare's works, "Since they're all by the same guy."

"Yes, and have the first editions before the subsequent ones."

The student nodded in understanding and proceeded to alphabetize the books. The next time the teacher noticed a pause he only had one-and-a-half tests left to grade.

"Finished, Mr. Lancer" Danny said, standing behind the cart.

"Excellent," Lancer said, setting aside the papers. He had been looking for a reason to abandon these tests. Aside from a few bright individuals, his Junior English class was generally sub-par when it came their vocabulary skills. "Now let's start on these," he said, pulling the second, smaller stack of books towards him.

Danny sat down opposite his teacher and began to work. However, his mind seemed elsewhere, like he was expecting something he wouldn't like, and kept giving his teacher edgy glances. It confused Lancer to no end.

Then it hit him.

Danny thought the teacher was going to begin asking him about what happened with Dash again.

Well…it would be the perfect time, seeing as the two could talk without interruption. But something caused the teacher to hesitate. Danny looked almost scared of Mr. Lancer and the man did _not_ like the idea of his students fearing him.

Behind Danny, by one of the many shelves of books, a brown-hared boy in a blue and white shirt and baggy jeans was talking to an older boy with greasy-black hair and an envelope in one hand.

No!

Mr. Lancer mentally shook himself and the shadows disappeared.

He couldn't ignore Danny's problem. It needed to be addressed.

Whatever _it_ was.

"Danny," He said, going for the direct approach.

The boy quickly looked up at the English instructor, eyes alert and suspicious. Lancer even saw him shift his weight slightly so as to have a faster escape from his chair, should it be needed. He was prepared for any question Lancer could throw at him.

…Maybe the direct approach isn't the best way. Besides, it would probably be better to give him a chance to tell before prying further.

"I hope you know that, although I may be a teacher, I _do_ listen, and if anything is troubling you, at the risk of sounding clichéd, my door _is _always open."

Mr. Lancer saw what looked like a shadow of panic flash over the boy's features, but it was swiftly replaced by an expression of bewilderment.

"What do you mean, Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked in polite confusion.

The boy knew his teacher suspected something, and Lancer believed the child was trying to get a feel for exactly how much. When and where did he learn _that_ little skill?

"Well, the bullying of yourself by certain football players for one," he answered, not wanting to give Danny too much to be suspicious of, "I would imagine that would be a problem you would want to stop."

Danny stayed silent, appearing to debate his answer. He placed a book between two others and picked up another and Lancer knew he wasn't planning on complaining about the bullying. These kids never did. But Danny needed _someone's_ help or he might get himself into something he couldn't handle, trouble he wouldn't be able to get out of.

The teacher wouldn't even consider if he was already.

"Look, I know something's going on. I also know whatever it is it's dangerous and you need help or…"

Chris' hand wrenched out of the teacher's grasp and brown eyes stared up angrily.

"Back off, ok! I _don't_ need anyone's _help_! Why don't you just leave me _alone_! I can take care of _myself_!" the 14-year-old screamed and then took off down the sidewalk and rounded the corner out of sight.

I won't fail again.

"Ok Danny, you don't need to tell me but I _want_ to _help_, if you'll let me."

Danny gazed down at the book in front of him, very still. Lancer looked at him hard. He suddenly realized how worn out the boy seemed, like he had been running for three days straight. Also, he appeared to have acquired new bruises between yesterday and today. Moreover, there was a new cut on his left arm and a second, particularly evil looking one curving from below his right ear towards his throat.

Had someone tried to _kill_ him?

The thought struck Lancer like lightning and chilled him to the bone. Kill Danny Fenton! _Kill_ him!

Danny looked up slowly, realizing his teacher's stare and shifted a little so his wounds weren't as noticeable.

"Mr. Fenton, _what_…"

"Heh heh… crashed into a dumpster."

"A dumpster?" Lancer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Heh heh… yea… wasn't paying attention…" Danny nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

Mr. Lancer knew that was a lie, and was about to tell the young Fenton so when Danny stood, grabbed a few of the books off the table, and headed towards one of the shelves to put them away.

Lancer followed. He wasn't going to let the boy get away _that_ easily. Walking over to his student, Mr. Lancer addressed the child.

"You don't need to tell me what really happened, Mr. Fenton, but I'm _not_ clueless. You should really have that checked out if you don't want problems with it later."

Did he just roll his eyes?

"I'm fine, really" Danny said, turning away and depositing a book on the shelf. "I just nee to be a bit more careful is all." The boy turned back to Mr. Lancer and the teacher saw, not his student, but a confident, powerful, righteous presence.

Then it was gone and Danny was there, looking uncertainly at Mr. Lancer.

"Danny…" the man began. The teen shifted a bit, eyes flashing to the nearest exit then back to his teacher before anyone would really notice had they not been paying strict attention to the boy.

Lancer heaved a sigh then shook his head.

"…Please be more careful. I _would_ like to see you back here next year."

Danny gave him a startled look as the teacher walked back to the table and began grading those last tests. His student also returned to the table, standing across from his teacher, two hands griping the back of the chair. Lancer looked up at the young Fenton.

"Mr. Lancer," he looked anxious to the point of fear, "I don't know what…"

"Don't," the teacher cut in, "you don't _need_ to tell me anything, but I do _not_ appreciate being lied to."

Danny opened his mouth as if to protest, and then shut it, lowered his head, and seemed to be in deep thought as Mr. Lancer waited.

He let go of the chair.

"I'd better get back to work" the boy said to his shoe.

"Mr. Fenton, if you tell me what's wrong I can try my best to help you. You seem to be in _some_ sort of trouble, so why won't you accept any help?"

"You wouldn't understand," Danny said, barely audible.

_You wouldn't understand…_

_You wouldn't understand…_

"You wouldn't understand!" Chris yelled, grabbing the envelope away from Mr. Lancer, "None of you people do!" He stormed out of Lancer's room, slamming the door behind him.

Lancer looked at Danny.

"What wouldn't I understand?" He asked sympathetically.

Danny didn't answer.

Lancer sighed once more, he'd been doing that a lot lately, and looked at the clock.

"Three o'clock. You can go."

Danny looked up at Lancer quickly, than at the clock, then back to Lancer.

"…Thank-you" ha said, a little unsure, grabbing his backpack and walking past his teacher.

"Mr. Fenton," Lancer said.

Danny stopped in his tracks and the teacher turned in his chair.

"Take care of those cuts or they'll get infected."

The boy looked over his shoulder at the balding teacher.

"Yes, sir" He said, then walked out the door and out of sight.

After a moment of staring at the exit, Lancer gathered up the tests, placing them in his bag. His pen rolled off the other side of the table and onto the floor. The man got up, mumbling some, and walked over, picking the cursed thing up. As he straightened, he looked out the window, just in time to see a bizarre flash of blue light.

The man froze. In this town, that meant ghosts. He stuffed his pen quickly in his pocket and was about to grab his bag when he heard a shout then a bang, as a streak of black and white fell past the window, swiftly followed by a red beam of energy that blew glass everywhere and the figure into the room. Lancer ducked to avoid the spray of lethal debris, taking cover under the table.

An eerie laugh filled the air, making the hairs on the man's neck stand on end.

"Well, whadda you know," a female voice said, "a two for one deal."

* * *

MWAHAHAHA! I love cliffies… when they don't happen to me… Hehehe!

Yea… I hope this is long enough for everyone! Thanks again for you wonderful reviews! I hope to receive more! I'm actually sorta sad no one's flamed me yet… the police took all my test subjects and I need to find more. ShiftyEyes … I didn't say that…

Thank you Becca for proofreading this, Jeff needed a day off. A happy squirrel waves

Haha! Now I must be off. I need to prepare for a Spanish oral and do an English project. Oh the joys of school…

…_and scene_


	6. Chapter 6

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Hey everyone! My Internet is back up and my English project is finally done so I can now post a new chapter! YAY! **

**Thanks to purrbaby101, beachbum330, Pterodactyl, killerdoodlebug, dPhantoMfreak, Giff, iamratgirl, X-Roosterrelli-X, Jenna Dax, Ohka Breynekai, Phantom Shade, and AkoyaMizuno** **for their wondrous reviews! I really can't believe that you all put up with my little piece of insanity. **

**Ok, so I could have taken this chapter in SOOO many different directions that I wanted to go. It was hard to choose just one. But I couldn't find a way to blend all my ideas into one in a way that didn't sound too crazy so I went with this.**

**Yes, the villain is an OC but please, hold your branding irons till you read the chapter, then you can flame all you want. I want to use her because the only other ghost I can see doing what I want done is Walker and even then, it's not what I want. I have bigger plans for him anyway. **

**Besides… I like this girl's weapon. **

…**I _want_ this girl's weapon!**

**Anyway… I hope you all can forgive me and my OC. (I normally don't like them so I have NO idea what made me do this.)**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter 6**

Lancer was sure he turned an unhealthy shade of white. The girl hovering in front of the destroyed wall was no older than 17, with grayish-silver hair that fell just below her shoulders. She wore baggy gray pants that had a single red stripe down the right leg and a sleeveless darker gray shirt. On the girl's left arm was a red tattoo. But, what really got the teacher's attention were her red eyes that gleamed eerily and the scythe with six rubies set in the handle that she absentmindedly twirled in her right hand.

"Oh please, don't get up."

She pointed the now glowing weapon at the table and a red beam of energy shot it back, revealing the man underneath, who stood quickly, ready to run. There was an 'oomph' from behind him and Lancer risked a glance back.

The overthrown table shifted a bit and a boy with messy black hair and torn blue jeans crawled out from under it.

"Danny!" he exclaimed, dashing over to his student, who looked up at his teacher's shout, eyes wide.

"_Duck_!" the boy warned with such a commanding tone that the man immediately dropped to the floor, keeping himself between his student and the ghost, who laughed again, aiming her scythe at the two.

Before he knew what happened, Lancer was pushed out of the way as another red blast erupted out of the weapon. It hit Danny square in the chest and the boy was thrown into the wall, crying out in pain.

"_No_!" Lancer yelled as the beam subsided and his student fell to the ground. He took a step toward the boy, but the ghost placed herself between them.

"Oh it's _just_ too _easy_ now!" the girl practically giggled, twirling her scythe around at her side. Lancer stumbled back in surprise.

"Ge-get out… of here… _Now_!" Danny ordered the man, kneeling on the floor and clutching his stomach, breathing heavily.

"Still conscious are you?" the ghost asked giddily. "Well, that should be expected, considering…" She trailed off, a sadistic smile on her face. She turned and aimed her weapon at him and Danny glared back up at her.

Lancer didn't really think, choosing to act on impulse, and grabbed the fire extinguisher, chucking it at the ghost. It was then the man remembered an important little detail about himself.

He never really had good aim.

The thing sailed past the ghost's head, landing with a clatter on the floor, just missing Danny by inches.

The girl looked at the teacher over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised, weapon aimed right at Danny's heart.

"_What_, exactly, were you trying to accompl-_AAHHG_!" she yelled as she was covered with a white, foamy substance. Danny had taken advantage of her momentary distractedness and seized the fire extinguisher, standing and spraying the girl.

The boy hastened over to Mr. Lancer, all the while spraying the ghost. The teacher gaped at his student.

Was he enjoying this?

To Lancer, the answer seemed to be yes, at least, on some obscure level. Sure, Danny looked frightened and worried, but there was also a subtle gleam of joy in his eyes.

Suddenly, the ghost gave a scream of rage and the device was blasted out of Danny's hands, flying across the room.

"Uhh…now might be a good time to run," Danny suggested. His teacher didn't need telling twice. The two turned and sprinted for the door, thrusting themselves out of the room.

As they ran through the maze of empty hallways, Lancer glanced at his student.

It didn't make sense. The boy shouldn't be conscious after that kind of beating, let alone fit enough to run through the halls at the pace they were going. Yet, here he was, bruised and battered, but still able to carry himself on his own two feet.

They burst through the double doors into the sunlight, not caring where their feet took them so long as they were away from that ghostly menace. Lancer put all questions aside for the time being. He'd survive this first and_ then _worry about his student's problems.

The two soon found themselves in the park. As the came upon the fountain, the teacher stopped to catch his breath.

"That's weird," Danny said, hands on his hips.

"Wha-what's weird?" Lancer asked between his gasping breaths.

"No one's here. It's _empty_," the boy said as he gestured to the landscape. The teacher looked around. The child was right. There wasn't anyone in sight as far as he could see.

"Why isn't anyone here?" he wondered aloud. Danny gasped.

"Now you boys weren't trying to run from me were you?" said a voice and Lancer saw the ghost they had been running from sitting on top of the fountain, looking quite pleased at their surprised faces, arms resting over the scythe supported on her shoulders. The half-moon blade glinted in the sunlight as she brought the weapon to rest at her side and descended to float in front of them on the path.

"What do you want?" the teacher asked, taking an involuntary step back. Beside him, Danny tensed.

"My name is Eclipse," the girl said, idly twirling her scythe.

"You...didn't answer my question," Lancer said pointedly after a moment's hesitation.

"Am I obligated to?" she asked in feigned confusion, a rebellious smile playing at her lips.

The man didn't answer.

"I didn't think so."

Without warning, Lancer felt a yank on his wrist as his student pulled the man to the ground and there was the 'swish' of a blade slicing through the air above them. He looked up and the ghost raised her weapon. Lancer shut his eyes tight, not daring to look as she swung down.

Suddenly, the wind stopped and a cool sensation spread through his body. He didn't risk looking, convincing himself he was dead. But then, the sensation passed, he felt the wind again, and his student abruptly released his grasp on the man's wrist.

The teacher looked up to see Danny struggling in the grip of the girl, his feet at least two feet off the ground.

"Now _that's_ just _annoying_!" she complained, her scythe loosely pointed at Lancer as she scowled at the boy.

"Let me _GO_!" Danny snapped, his green eyes narrowed in anger as he twisted against her grip.

Wait a minute…

Mr. Lancer looked at his student's eyes again as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Instead of their normal icy-blue, they were indeed an exotic glowing green. But before the man could even wonder as to _how_ that was possible, the ghost hurled Danny into him, causing both to learn yet another painful lesson about gravity.

"Well, you insisted," Eclipse said with a giggle. Danny grumbled as he stood, Lancer getting up a little after.

The ghost gripped her weapon in both hands.

"Now," she said dangerously, an evil glint coming to her eyes, her blade glowing a shimmering gray.

The teacher took a slight step back. He didn't like _that_ look. His student seemed to agree. The boy balled his hands into fists and, to his teacher's complete bafflement, adjusted his position to place himself between Lancer and the ghost.

"If that's how you're gunna be…" Eclipse pointed her blade at the two, who instantly hovered three feet off the ground, surrounded in that same gray glow.

She swung the weapon straight up and straight back down. There was a 'pop,' and Lancer fell into a dark void.

* * *

Sweet! I finished chapter 7 too so if you review I might post it. It's MUCH more of a cliffy than this.

So review and flame my OC. She didn't get that scythe by being nice and I'm out of test subjects for my flaming boomerang of death. …My idea! Don't take it! (_Hides boomerang under her bed_)

_TWO DAYS TILL THE NEW DANNY PHANTOM EPPISODE!_

Whatever happens, my story won't change. I like writing this and I don't _want_ it to change. It was _hard_ picking just this direction.

Aww, crud. My bed's on fire. Gotta find a way to turn _off_ the flamingness of that boomerang. (_Goes to get the garden hose_)

…_and scene_


	7. Chapter 7

**_DISCLAIMER:_** **Hehehe… I was gunna leave you all hanging for at least 24 hours, but I couldn't wait… I sooo wanted to post this!**

**To my reviewers ****dPhantoMfreak, Wingg-ed Wolf, purrbaby101, silvermoonphantom, Ghostboy814, Pterodactyl, and The Person Who Rights, Diamond Unicorn, iamratgirl, ****Esme Kali Phantom, Jenna Dax, blackkaosrose, killerdoodlebug, Sasia, Ohka Breynekai, and X-Roosterrelli-X. I love you all! Your reviews really mean a lot to me. So many in just a day! And you actually like Eclipse! Yay! (_Showers reviewers with cookies_)**

**And Esme, this story might not be _that_ insane, but I co-wrote another story on a shared account and _those_ are insane. For more on them check my profile. I actually try to keep that thing current.**

**This chapter was fun to write! I'm sorry if it's short, but the cliffy was the best place! If you don't like cliffies your gunna spaz here.**

…**I would at least. **

**Oh, and Chris will be explained later, so will Eclipse's motive. Incognito Bob won't let me reveal them yet. (_Pouts_) **

**Now what you've been waiting for…. (While I go try and find a way to nuke-dry my sopping wet bed. On the up side…. The fire's out!) **

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter 7**

When he landed, Lancer realized it wasn't a black _void_ like he had thought; he had just unconsciously shut his eyes during his fall.

…Anyone would, right?

Though there were no lights, the man could nonetheless see he was enclosed in some misty, swirling gray dome.

He also saw Eclipse suspended as though she were seated on the floor, legs in some kneeling-like position Lancer could never have believed would make someone as comfortable as she seemed. Her scythe was rested across her lap, one hand on top of the weapon, the other behind her as if she were leaning on it.

"Where are we?" Danny demanded from beside Mr. Lancer.

"Well…" She looked somewhat thoughtful as she unfurled her legs, gripped her scythe in both hands, and floated down to stand on the blackness that passed for the ground. "I _guess_ you could call it a sorta limbo, but not. I won't bother trying to explain it to you two, you wouldn't understand," she answered, flapping a dismissive hand in their direction.

"But, how did we _get_ here?" Lancer asked. His student looked at him surprised. The teacher guessed that Danny hadn't been expecting him to begin interrogating a ghost.

Well, that made two of them.

Eclipse tossed her weapon from one hand to the other a couple times.

"Just one of this baby's little abilities." She twirled the thing around in her left hand a bit before resting the butt of the handle on the ground.

Lancer eyed the blade suspiciously. He had already been taken by surprise by that thing and he definitely didn't want _that_ to happen again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his student's fingers twitch.

"Don't bother," the girl said, switching the scythe to her right hand, "I got this and I'm not giving it up to _anyone_."

"So you stole it," the boy replied coolly, balling his hands into fists. The teacher marveled at his student's boldness and quick deduction. He noticed Danny's blue eyes scowled at the ghost with a confidence that he was seriously lacking in school.

"Sorta," she said, an amused grin on her face, "but it's mine now."

"How can you '_sorta_' steel something?" Lancer asked. Danny gave him another amazed look. Well the boy wasn't the _only_ one who could stand up to a ghost and demand answers.

"Irrelevant," she said and spun her scythe behind her back to her other hand. "Though I'm surprised you have the guts to ask old man."

"_Old man_!" Lancer bristled, suppressing the urge to hiss at the girl like an angry cat and pounce upon his prey.

Eclipse seemed to know she struck a nerve and gave a scoffing laugh.

"Well hey, at least you're not a childish whelp," she said, looking directly at Danny. The teacher saw the boy's eyes narrow, momentarily flashing green, and gave an involuntary shudder. For that moment, Danny seemed overwhelmingly dangerous.

The rubies on the ghost's scythe began glowing and she looked at them mildly.

"Well, I've got business to attend to. See you boys later!" She laughed, twirled the weapon in a circle, and disappeared with a small 'pop.'

Danny swore and dashed forward in anger, grasping at the air.

Lancer instead went to the dome and put a hand on it. The thing was cool to the touch and felt as solid as concrete. There was no way out he could see but for the singular device that disappeared with Eclipse. Maybe, if someone could hear him…

He began to bang on the wall.

"No one's around to hear that," his student said, walking over. "She said this was a limbo." He paused. "Maybe we should go _under_ it!"

"Did you just…make a _joke_?" Lancer asked, amazed. How Danny could be joking around at a time like this he would never understand.

"Sorry, too easy," the boy replied, giving an apologetic grin and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, there has to be _some_ weak point in this blasted wall," the man said, feeling along the swirling structure. Danny went to do the same. But, as the boy placed his hand on the wall, it turned red and, in a flash of ruby light, he was thrown back, landing hard on the ground.

"_An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge_! What happened?" Lancer exclaimed, hurrying to his student. "Are you alright?" the man asked as he reached out a hand to help the boy up.

Danny took the hand with a sheepish grimace and stood, wobbling a bit. Mr. Lancer went to brace him but the boy shook the help off with a slightly peeved "I'm ok" and glared at the top of the dome.

"Well _that's_ a nice little feature." He looked back at Mr. Lancer. "Remind me _not_ to do that again."

"What happened?" the man asked, baffled beyond all reason, "It didn't do that to me."

Danny gazed at the dome intently. A look of realization flickered across his face so fast Lancer could have imagined it. Then it was gone.

"I'm not completely sure," the boy said slowly, not taking his eyes off the wall.

The teacher sensed that wasn't technically a lie, but wasn't happy about being left in the dark.

There were a few moments of silence before Lancer decided to try and get some questions answered. Danny's voice, however, stopped his words in his throat.

"Do you see my backpack anywhere?"

If he were an anime, Mr. Lancer would have face-vaulted. His backpack? The boy was wondering about his _backpack_!

"She must have taken it," Danny mumbled, still looking around. The teacher didn't know whether to laugh or throw his hands up in frustration.

His student turned back around and his face fell.

"_Behind you_!"

"Wah-"

Suddenly, the teacher was seized by the forearms and raised off the ground by two glowing ropes of red ectoplasm that seemed to grow from the dome.

"Mr. Lancer!" Danny shouted, running forward to help but another snaking rope tripped him. The boy curled himself into a ball, rolling harmlessly, and stood, dropping into what Lancer identified as a fighting stance.

Again the teacher wondered where and how he learned those reflexes.

The rope reared itself up like a snake, ready to strike, and lunged at Danny, who grabbed the thing as it came close and pulled, causing the rope to detach from the dome. The young Fenton cracked it on the ground like a whip and it disappeared. He had a smirk of satisfaction on his face and looked as though he went through times like this before.

Where would he though?

All of a sudden, another rope appeared out of the top of the dome, its end sparking red energy menacingly. Danny looked up at his teacher as the man wriggled in the ropes' hold over eight feet off the ground, the third one advancing.

Then, it made contact. Pain shot through Mr. Lancer's body for what seemed like forever. The man cried out, writhing in agony, as his student looked on helplessly.

Then, it stopped, and the teacher slumped against his bonds, exhausted and tremendously sore, but still, amazingly, conscious. He looked at his student. He could see the child was frightened for his teacher, the boy's expression of shock mixing with one of anger as the rope advanced a second time.

Lancer tried to struggle, but he was too worn out. The rope closed in. The teacher took a last look at his student.

The expression on the boy's face was one of absolute fury. His eyes were an intense, luminescent green and his hands were fists that had the smallest echo of a green glow.

"_NO_!" the boy screamed as the rope lunged.

Lancer would have shut his eyes, but what he saw made him freeze in shock and time seemed to slow down.

A ring of brilliant blue light appeared around his student's waist. It separated into two, one going up, one down. His dirt-encrusted t-shirt and torn blue-jeans were replaced with a black and white jumpsuit with an all-too-familiar emblem on the front. Jet-black hair became snowy white. His eyes blazed an even brighter green.

The teacher was looking into the face of the legendary Danny Phantom.

* * *

(_Squeals_) Ok, I had to do it. It was the best cliffy I've ever written…I think. 

It made _me_ squeal and _I'm_ the writer. I can't imagine how you feel…no, wait, (_Remembers all the cliffies_)… Yes I can… But I don't care! They're fun to write. Mwahahahahahaha!

BTW: If any of you have warnings about OCs please give them. I _don't_ want a Mary Sue.

Yea, if your wondering how they can see, the dome gives off enough of a glow,

And if you were wondering how Eclipse was sitting when they were in the dome, take a kneeling position and instead of sitting _on_ her legs she was sitting _between_ them, feet out to either side. I sit like that sometimes and people tell me it looks like the most uncomfortable position but it's really not for me.

…Now a split, _that's_ uncomfortable. How do people _do_ that?

Anyway, any other questions, ask, and I'll try to answer them.

Again, sorry for the shortness of the last two chapters. I'll try and make the next one longer.

Oh! If you were wondering, I fixed my flaming boomerang of death! It will be use to kill any Mary Sue I come across. That should be fun! (_Grins evilly_)

NEW EPPISODE TOMMOROW! (_Does a happy dance_)

…_and scene _


	8. Chapter 8

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ **Hahahaha! Reality Trip was great! SO MANY HOT POSES! If anyone knows where to get screencaps PLEASE tell me and I will love you forever!**

**Another note, Reality Trip has absolutely no influence on this at all!**

**Thanks to all my reviewers: Blackkaosrose, Wingg-ed Wolf, Sasia, Ghostboy814, Ohka Breynekai, ShiroandFubuki, enigmatic penguin, Cali, Petrodactyl, silvermoonphantom, purrbaby101, CharmedMilliE, Diamond Unicorn, killerdoodlebug, iamratgirl, Esme Kali Phantom, mordechaimalachai, me the anonymous penguin, AkoyaMizuno, Writer's Block DP, emotigone crazy and Phantom Shade! You all are totally AWESOME! I'm evil; I've known this for a while! XD Special thanks to horsegal for proofreading as much as she could! You get to distracted on the bus though! (Ducks flying lunchbox of doom) **

**Ok, I've gone back through my first 5 chapters and some mistakes were really bugging me so I'll be fixing those sometime soon. Look back later for that. **

**Yea, by the way! I think Danny is able to use his ghost powers in human mode to a certain extent, meaning not his wail or other more advanced moves, and the ones he could use wouldn't be as strong. (That includes flying) I think he can hover as a human but not zoom around like he can as a ghost. So I'm taking some license with that… you'll see later…INCOGNITO BOB BACK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! …and enigmatic penguin wants your autograph. **

**Humm… Filbert had almost as much fun with this cliffy as he did with the last one! …Almost… but not quite… we'll have to work on that won't we Filbert. (Pats giant great white shark on the head) Jeff also had some fun… though not much. Oh don't pout you silly squirrel, I'll try some more action soon. **

**Oh yea! I also have a challenge for you all! Could someone draw a picture of Eclipse? I'd love to see how you guys imagine her compared to me. If you want to, and have a Deviantart account, alert me on that. Otherwise you could e-mail me. I'd love to see some cool drawings of her. Please, someone try!**

**A general warning: I get sentimental but then I usually like to crush the moment… you'll see later.**

**… I'm rambling aren't I? …I'll stop now.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The young ghost rocketed forward, and, in a blur of black, silver, and red, the ropes disappeared and Lancer plummeted towards the ground. But before he hit, he was caught and gently lowered.

He turned around as the boy spun.

"Anything _else_ you wanna throw?" the ghost yelled up at the dome. The gray mist swirled innocently. "Didn't _think _so!"

The teacher wanted to say something to the teen, but his mind just went numb and the man simply stood, mouth agape, staring at the ghost floating before him.

Eventually, he managed to form something coherent.

"D-D-Danny?"

"Oh, shit" he heard the teen say to himself before turning to the educator fearfully.

The teacher fumbled for words.

"Ah…bu…you're a-a-a _ghost_?" the man stuttered, still at a complete loss. "_Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_, you're a _ghost_?"

The teen turned his face away from Mr. Lancer, closing his eyes, and nodded slowly.

"Nuh…du…buh… _How_?" The teacher stammered, brain still not truly functioning properly. His head began to churn and his knees felt weak. His own student a _ghost_ and he _didn't even know_! He didn't even suspect…

"It…" the ghost took a steadying breath, "It was th-that lab accident…" He paused again, "N-near the beginning of… of school. I… my parents' ghost portal wasn't… wasn't working and I… I accidentally t-turned it on from the inside a-and…" He stopped, still not looking at Mr. Lancer.

"Your… your parents-" Lancer began.

"Don't know" the boy finished for him, landing on the ground. "But… Sam and… and Tucker were th-there when…" He trailed off. "J-Jazz… found out l-later on… on her own." He rubbed his right arm nervously. "I've… I've never actually had to..." He swallowed nervously. "To explain this to… to anyone."

"But you…" Lancer paused, trying to figure how to best phrase this. "You don't… _look_ like a ghost. In school I mean."

"That's because I'm only," he paused and shifted his green eyes up to meet Mr. Lancer's for the first time. "I'm only half ghost," he finished resolutely.

Only half… huh?

"How is that even _possible_?" the teacher asked slowly, still utterly astonished.

"I… honestly, I don't really know."

"So… so all this time…" He really needed to sit down.

The teen swallowed uneasily again.

"I… Mr. Lancer, I don't want anyone to… to know" the boy said slowly, looking away again. "Please, don't _tell_ anyone." He turned to face the teacher again, his luminous eyes pleading.

The man was taken aback by the ghost's expression. It was so _strange_ to see _anything_ like this on a ghost's face that he froze, his mind going into a blank overdrive. If he didn't tell…

Sounds and images flashed through his mind. A shout. A chain-link fence. A warehouse. Two silhouettes. The glint of a silver handgun. An explosion.

"Mr. Lancer _please_."

The man was snapped back to reality by the voice and met the ghost's eyes.

"Please. No one needs to know. Schools already hard enough and I've got ghost hunters after me and if they find out…" He paused and clenched his fists, closing his eyes as he turned his head away. "If my parents find out… they might… I… I don't know what they would do and…" His voice broke and he stopped, breathing slowly.

No… he wouldn't tell. This was a completely different situation. The teen was obviously trying to _help_ people and just was occasionally in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The boy turned his back to the teacher and the man realized the ghost was trying to keep from breaking down.

"I… I know you probably think I'm a…a freak and…" He took a steadying breath. "And I can understand that, but… _please_, don't tell."

Wait… think of him as _what_?

"Please," the boy repeated in a barely audible whisper.

All of a sudden, the shock of discovering his student was the infamous ghost boy evaporated. The teacher put a hand on Danny's shoulder, causing the boy to gaze up at the man.

"Danny, I look at you and I don't see a freak. I see a 14-year-old student with an overwhelming sense of righteousness and responsibility that I have never seen in a student before." Lancer gave the boy a comforting smile.

"I see someone I can be proud of."

Green eyes blinked up at the teacher in confusion. Then, his student did the one thing Lancer never expected a teen to do.

He hugged Mr. Lancer round the middle.

"Thank-you," he gasped, his voice full of relief. "Thank-you. Thank-you! _Thank-you_!"

"Yes… well," Lancer said, and Danny quickly let go. "Don't think this means you can slack off in my class," he informed the boy sternly, then smiled. Danny returned one of his goofy grins.

Suddenly, the teacher's legs began to wobble. He stumbled and fell to his knees. His student's grin vanished instantly.

"Mr. Lancer?" he asked urgently, kneeling next to his teacher, his concern plainly evident.

"J-Just a little shaky from that - _woh_." The man's vision blurred and his head spun. Danny caught him as he fell forward.

"Mr. Lancer! Can you hear me?"

"Y-Yea…I'm… I'm fine."

He could tell Danny didn't believe him for a second. He looked hard at his teacher, shook his head, then stood.

"Wait here. I'm gunna see if I can find a way out of this thing."

Lancer nodded and his student walked towards the dome. He was two feet from the wall when it again glowed red and shot the boy back with a ray of energy. Danny landed hard next to his teacher as the dome reverted to its original gray color.

"Are you alright?" Mr. Lancer asked worriedly. The young ghost nodded.

"Yea. Fine." The boy rubbed his arm, looking confused. "I got closer before," he said.

It was true. Before, Danny had been able to place his hand on the dome before it attacked him.

The child looked down at his hands as he stood again.

"Maybe…" He looked back at the wall as that ring of blue light formed around his waist and separated. Torn blue-jeans and a dirty t-shirt were back. The boy's ghostly green eyes became their usual dazzling icy-blue and dark raven hair replaced snowy white.

Danny gave Mr. Lancer an uncomfortable glance before cautiously walking toward the dome again, inspecting it closely. It dawned on the teacher that his student still felt strange around him, and, when the youngest Fenton began hovering in the air, the man had to admit he also felt somewhat unnerved.

Lancer tried to start some sort of conversation to keep his mind off the silent weirdness of the situation. He rattled his brain, searching for some sort of topic.

"So… I guess this explains a lot of what I was wondering about you."

He could have smacked himself! That was nearly as bad as discussing the weather!

The boy paused a moment, halfway up the dome.

"Y-Yea," he said uncomfortably, "I-I guess it does…"

There was a long awkward silence, during which Lancer closed his eyes and tried to regain his strength.

Danny was the first to end the quiet.

"How… how long did you suspect something?"

"Well…" The teacher thought for a moment. "For a while I've been wondering why you were hardly passing my class when you obviously had great potential," he stated, noticing Danny's cheeks developed a slight cherry coloring. "But, I suppose I really started getting suspicious on Thursday."

"When I…" The boy trailed off, but the man knew what he was getting at, the incident with Dash.

"Yes. But I didn't think it would be _anything _like this."

"What did you _think_ it was?" Danny asked, looking over his shoulder at the teacher. Lancer realized he had peaked the boy's curiosity, and winced a bit. He had hoped ho wouldn't be asked that, especially when he had just been telling the boy to be more open.

"I…" He paused, not knowing what to say.

"Nevermind," Danny said, waving a hand and turning back to inspect the dome, seeming to sense the man's discomfort.

There was another awkward silence. The teacher rose unsteadily to his feet. The dizzy feeling seemed to have passed and now he only felt weak and shaky.

"What are you doing?" he inquired of his floating student.

"There's a wired sorta line here," Danny replied, tracing it with his finger, but never touching the dome. "Looks like a sorta thread. They're all around the entire structure, running up from the ground… All of them, I think…" The boy flew to the highest point of the dome. "Yea, all of them connect here."

He paused a moment, looking thoughtful. Lancer couldn't see what the teen was getting at, but he was, yet again, amazed at his acute observational skills. He always knew Danny had a good head on his shoulders.

"If…" the teen paused again, glancing at the bottom of the dome, then at the teacher. "Mr. Lancer, if enough of a… force… was applied, right where all these connect, do… do you think the dome might… collapse?"

The teacher was stunned by the boy's analysis and turned the idea over a bit.

"Well… I don't know…" he answered slowly. "How did you think _that_ _one_ up?"

"Ghosts may keep me from my schoolwork, but, they _have _forced me to learn what I need to survive their tricks," the teen answered with a small grin.

"I see…" the teacher replied, inwardly marveling at the light-hearted way the teen shrugged the issue of ghosts off. Had they really become _that_ commonplace in the boy's life?

Thinking back to his most recent ghost experiences, the man realized the _must_ be a yes. His own _student_ was a ghost for crying-out-loud!

"Well… it could work. But the amount of force needed would probably be pretty great. I mean, the thing's harder than concrete and I'm not really sure how compliant to natural laws ghost energy is. But, in theory…" He stopped as he noticed his student, who was no longer paying much attention, had descend a few feet, the fact the seemingly normal teen was defying the laws of physics still unnerving the teacher slightly.

A bright ball of glowing green ectoplasm began to grow in Danny's cupped hand. The boy pointed the sphere at the top of the dome, the ball getting bigger the longer he held it back.

"If this backfires," the teen shouted over his shoulder at Mr. Lancer, "duck."

The teacher blinked.

Right.

The man took a few steps out from under Danny, and the young half-ghost released the swelling energy in a huge, blazing-green beam that made Lancer wish he had a pair of sunglasses. The dazzling glow actually gave him a headache and the teacher had to steady himself. The light flared brighter, then faded.

Danny lowered his hand.

"Huh…" he said, blinking at the spot he had just blasted and cocking his head to the side, "I was sure that would-"

He was cut off by what sounded like the fading melody of rolling thunder as the dome melted away, beginning where Danny had struck and working its way to the base. Danny descended to stand beside his teacher.

The atmosphere pulsed, their surroundings faltered, and the landscape faded to the park the two had abruptly left.

Danny gasped, and Lancer looked at the boy in time to see a strange blue mist escape his student.

"What-" the man began.

"So, you escaped!" came an amused female voice from behind them. They spun, and came face-to-face with the ghost who had trapped the two.

"_Eclipse_!" Danny growled at the specter. She smiled and gave a little wave.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" the girl said childishly. She held her scythe with both hands behind her back, still grinning. "Mind if I ask how, you know, so I can beef up security?" she requested with a tiny laugh.

Lance saw that the boy's eyes were glowing green again.

"None of your business," he countered, a challenge in his tone.

"Oh, isn't it?" Eclipse replied with an equally challenging tone, her eyes flashing dangerously. She spun her scythe in her right hand slowly, a small, sadistic smile on her face.

The teen obviously knew more about ghosts and their behaviors because his student abruptly shoved the teacher sideways, Eclipse swinging her weapon at where they stood. Lancer watched horrified, as the blade was about to slice Danny in two.

"Danny!" he yelled. But, to the man's astonishment, the blade simply went straight through the boy.

What the! …Right. Half-ghost. Of course. He still had to get used to that.

A bright flash of blue retrieved him from his self-reproach, as Mr. Fenton became his ghostly alter ego.

"So, the human found out?" Eclipse stated with a grin.

"Yea, and I blame you!" Danny snapped.

"Your welcome!" the girl laughed, as a red beam shot from her weapon, sending the boy tumbling through the air and into the fountain, causing some of the sculpture to break off and hit Danny in the head.

"Hey! Watch the property damage! I get blamed for that!" he shouted, irritated, rubbing the top of his head. Eclipse just laughed some more and flew forward, ramming the top of her scythe into the boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Ouch. I bet that hurts," the girl said, unsympathetically, as the blade cut into the half-ghost's side.

"I bet this does too!" retorted Danny. Two green blasts hit his opponent in the shoulders, propelling her into the air. She gave a half-strangled cry, her scythe spinning away towards Lancer, who ducked, and the thing lodged itself in a tree. The boy took this opportunity to catch his breath and his teacher hurried towards him.

"No!" Danny shouted, halting the teacher in his tracks, "The-the thermos… in my backpack!" He pointed and Mr. Lancer turned. A purple lump was, indeed, resting in the grass. He looked at Danny again. The teen was standing with one hand over where the blade had sliced him. A green substance leaked through a gap in his fingers.

The teacher was torn, until he met the young ghost's eyes. He nodded and ran to retrieve the thermos, though he wasn't sure what good it would do.

Eclipse regained her balance and rose higher in the air, extremely pissed off. She threw he hand out to the side, and the scythe in the tree glowed an eerie red and began shaking violently. Lancer saw Danny suddenly shoot towards it at such a high speed it made the educator nauseous.

The teen caught the thing as it dislodged itself, but that didn't stop the weapon from rocketing towards the 17-year-old specter, Danny still holding on.

"Mr. Lancer! The thermos!" the boy cried as Eclipse caught her scythe.

"Let _go_!" she snarled. With all traces of laughter gone, her voice had a malicious, ruthless tone to it. "Damn you, you little monkey! Get_ off_!"

As she swung the weapon around in an attempt to fling the boy off, Lancer opened the container and looked inside.

"What do you want me to do?" he yelled panicked.

"Point and button!" Danny managed to say as he was swung back and forth.

"Oh no you _don't_!" the girl shouted as the teacher aimed the thermos at her. She gave an almighty swing and an added twist, and Danny, once again, tumbled through the air, landing on the hard sidewalk.

Eclipse shot upwards and blasted the device out of Mr. Lancer's hands, then pointed her glowing weapon at the teacher himself. Her voice was back to its normal tone of cheery malice, a sinister smile on her face.

"I would run if I were you."

* * *

Aaaaand… that's a nice ending I think! That's my policy: Take away one cliffy and give another! Although, I don't think this one's as good but, whatever. 

You didn't think I'd forget about Eclipse, did you?

…This was my longest chapter yet I believe… yes I think it was.

OMG! I just heard the name Fenton Street on the radio! That's AWESOME! XP

Anyway… I had a 3-hour car ride to my Great Aunt Eleanor's birthday party so I thought up a lot of the next chapter in the car. Then the same ride back just a little while ago. It's 11:00 and I'm exhausted!

Yes, review please. Flame if you want, I got marshmallows waiting.

…

No Bill, they're not for squirrels!

…

Oh you didn't just go there!

…

Jeff, get away from that bag! … No! That's MINE! (Chases after the two furry, marshmallow-thieving devils)

... and scene


	9. Chapter 9

**_DISCLAIMER: _Wow! I now have over 100 reviews! Thank you all! You guys are great! Sorry this took so long to get up. A little writer's block and no access to a computer for 3 days while in Chincoteague will take away a lot of good update time. **

**Thanks to Wingg-ed Wolf, ur1crazedupfruitloop, Pieling, Pterodactyl, Diamond Unicorn, blackkaorose, me, CharmedMilliE, Kat, ****Althea Astera Renata****, Phantom Shade, L'ange des Miracles, Jenna Dax, mordechaimalachai, purrbaby101, horsegal, Ghostboy814, dPhantoMfreak, phantomshadowdragon, blindyourears, and Harm Marie for reviewing! I heart you!**

**Horsegal – I totally told you 'bout that b-day party! Oh! And I got something for you in Chincoteague! But you can't have it if you don't review! HA! And get an account so I don't have to reply to you on here! Not that I don't want to but… oh nevermind! Just get an account!**

**Ok, so this was a little hard to do. Especially since I don't have Danny's PoV to help me out. I've resolved not to use it unless I absolutely must. I might write a second story that would be this one from Danny's PoV. Tell me if you want me to. Any way, the chapter seems a bit monotonous and short to me and I'm sorry about that but it's needed to move on. Or, so Jeff tells me…**

**Oh! That insane squirrel also put the idea for a really dark story in my head that I'm not sure I can do. If anyone wants to hear the idea and help me out with it please tell me. But only offer if you want to help write a story with at least one character death and some intense betrayal… I told you, it's gunna be dark…**

**Now! On to the story!**

**Enjoy!**

**

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**Chapter 9**

His brain clamored at him to heed the ghost's warning and run screaming, but the teacher was frozen with fear. He closed his eyes and raised his hands defensively in front of him.

Not exactly the smartest thing, but it was all the man could do in his present state.

Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground and flown through the air. Lancer looked down in surprise and felt sick when he saw the smoldering crater in the place he had been standing, not to mention how high up he was. The teacher looked up at the determined face of his ghostly student a little worriedly.

It wasn't that he was afraid of heights, he just felt a _little _uncomfortable at the lack of support under his feet.

"No fair!" the ghost wined in a laughing tone, "I was gunna waste him!" She again took aim and the silver blade emitted bursts of crimson ectoplasm and the two, following them through the air. Danny picked up speed and preformed an elaborate series of dives and turns to escape the deadly onslaught. Lancer tried not to hurl as they raced on.

The blasts stopped as the adolescent and his teacher tore through the sky, soon finding themselves nearing the ridiculously big hill just outside of town.

"You alright?" Danny asked his teacher, still occasionally swerving sideways like a deer on the run.

"I s-suppose," the man replied weakly. His student looked down at him and immediately slowed to a much gentler speed, descending to place his teacher on solid ground.

Lancer gratefully welcomed the feel of the hard earth under his feet as his student changed from Phantom to Fenton and dropped to the ground, landing easily and without a sound as his sneakers met the sidewalk.

"Sorry 'bout the speed Mr. Lancer. I guess I'm just used to it and I forgot it might be a little harsh to other people." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, I _think_ we lost her."

"Y-Yea. I think we did too," Mr. Lancer replied as he got his stomach under control. The teen gave a sheepish grin.

"So, are you gunna release that death-grip on my backpack, or should I just buy a new one?" he asked.

The teacher faltered and looked down at the purple backpack he hadn't realized he had still been holding. He handed it back to Danny, feeling a little embarrassed, and gave a small cough.

"Yes, well. How fast were we going?" he asked in a feeble attempt to regain some of his dignity.

"Let's see…" Danny replied, looking thoughtful. "Well, the last time I clocked my top speed, it was about 150-something. So that was probably… 120-ish?" he reasoned, placing the metal thermos he must have snatched before into his backpack. Lancer just stared at the boy, his stomach beginning to churn again.

"_That_ fast!"

"Uhh… yea, I guess." The boy said, slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Give or take..." He looked at his watch and groaned.

"What?" the teacher asked, concerned, as the boy hurriedly dug through his belongings.

"I was supposed to meet Sam and Tuck half-an-hour ago!" he explained, pulling out his cell phone. "They probably-" He was cut of by a catchy yet shrill little polyphonic ring-tone blaring from the small device. The teen swiftly flicked the cell open.

"Hey Tuck," he said with a little amusement in his voice. There was a voice on the other end.

"Hi Sam." More sounds followed this little greeting and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Tell Jazz that I'm fine."

Danny winced a bit as the phone burst with muffled conversation. Apparently, all three of the teacher's other students were in the same place, and, from the sound of it, all trying to talk into the same phone.

"Yea, I'm sorry I didn't pick up before, but I kinda was dealing with this insane ghost girl who-" He paused and one voice distinguished itself from the rest.

"No, really Jazz, I'm fine… No… No… No…Honestly, Jazz! …Look, I'm all right. Put Tucker on." The teacher faintly heard some jumbled protest. "Jazz, it's important ok," Danny replied in a slightly more serious tone.

Evidently, that was all the argument needed, because, in the blink on an eye, it seemed the phone had switched hands.

"Tuck, I need you to research a ghost named Eclipse." He paused a moment then continued. "She carries this scythe that has rubies in the top of it. It can transport people to this weird limbo place and-" He paused as Tucker said something and laughed.

A second, angry voice came from the phone and Danny laughed harder as the sound of something crashing leaked from the too-tiny device. "Nice Tuck. Anyway guys, it looked like something pretty ancient." There was a response on the other end from what was now a female voice. "Ok. Meet me at… uhh…" The teen glanced at Mr. Lancer. "At the school. I need to talk to you guys about something else that's come up too…No Jazz, I'll tell you when I get there… See ya."

Danny hung up and turned to his teacher.

"Umm… You can come too. If-If you want," he told the man a little awkwardly. "I don't know if Eclipse will come back today so…"

"Actually, I _do _think I'll come. I believe left my bag in the library and you aren't allowed to be in the school without a responsible adult's supervision. That would be trespassing."

Danny grinned as they began to trudge down the hill.

"I think Jazz is enough of an adult for all of us," he laughed.

"I'm amazed she didn't protest meeting at the school."

"Well, she normally would. But I wouldn't suggest meeting there if it wasn't necessary and she knows that. See, we needed a place nobody would be so they wouldn't wonder why four teenagers would be hanging out with a teacher on a Saturday afternoon," Danny explained matter-of-factly.

"I see," Lancer replied. It would take him some time to get used to Danny's thought process.

The teacher supposed that since the boy was rarely, if ever, present and awake in class he wouldn't be able to give the teacher a real sense of his intelligence. The man would have to remedy that somehow.

Danny glanced at his watch again, then at Mr. Lancer.

"Do… do you mind if we… umm… fly?" he asked tentatively, not meeting the teacher's eyes, "It would be faster than walking and we'd avoid more people."

Lancer wasn't sure he was ready for another experience with defying gravity yet, but the boy had a point. It _would_ avoid some awkward questions people could think up.

He nodded.

Danny gave the man a small nod back before blue rings of light spread across the teen's body. The ghostly adolescent lifted the teacher by the arms and flew for the school.

"Just please, be slower."

The boy smiled and nodded, then suddenly frowned, raising his head to scan the sky.

"No! Not _now_…"

* * *

Again, sorry for the shortness. I have a _LOT_ more but I wanted to cut it off here and get this up. I don't really have the best cliffy now but I wouldn't have one at all if I kept going. 

I'll try to update again as soon as I can. Leave reviews and I might go even faster! Or flame me, I don't mind. I'll just fight fire with (D_un dun dun daaa_)FIRE! (_Pulls out flaming boomerang of death_) Hahahahaha! (_Burns hand_) OW! HOT! (_Chucks boomerang and it breaks bedroom window_)

…That's not good…

… _and scene_


	10. Chapter 10

**_DISCLAMER:_ Hey sorry bout the long wait. I was sorta in Hawaii and I couldn't get to a computer. But I got a nice sunburn!**

**Thanks to dPhantoMfreak, Sasia, L'ange des Miracles, enigmatic penguin, Jenna Dax, CharmedMilliE, purpledog100, purrbaby101, Ghostboy814, Harm Marie, Wingg-ed Wolf, jessicajason, Phantom Shade, phantomshadowdragon, katiesparks, Pterodactyl, emotigone crazy, blindyourears, ghostlover15, Althea Astera Renata, and horsegal. Thanks for reviewing. I can't say how much I love you guys.**

**Ok, this'll be long. But, sorry about the fillerness of it near the middle, I had to get info on Eclipse in there somewhere. It'll pick up near the end. And Filbert had fun with this cliffy too. Though I don't think it's his best, I still like it.**

**Althea Astera Renata - Ok, her tattoo. I sorta have a couple different designs in my head and I'm gunna upload them to my Deviant art account as soon as I can. But if you want to see a general sort of "style" for it you can go on to that account (my name is SquirrelGirl13 still) an look at my pic titled 'Nameless' and that's the sorta "look" I'm going for... on a smaller scale and more a definite design. Oh, and red. Must be red.**

**Ok, so the number of ghosts Danny's fought is brought up in this and Jeff says it's well over 70. (He's responsible for accurate data if you don't already know.) Think of Walkers goons and Pariah Dark's skeleton army. Also, Youngblood's crew and the random animal ghosts thrown into the show. Then add all the ghosts I'm sure have attacked him and not been shown and I think Jeff's number is fair, right? Good to hear.**

**Oh, and I realized Lancer left his car at the school too so he _has_ to go back.**

**I swear, I've gotten so many random inspirations for ficks that it's sorta hard to focus on just one. I'll try to update sooner next time...I hope. I _REALLY_ want to Start theat dark fic! For a summary on It you can go to my profile.**

**Enjoy!

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**Chapter 10**

Suddenly, the teen disappeared and Lancer panicked for a quick moment before realizing that he wasn't plummeting to his death.

"Wah-"

"We're just invisible. I didn't want _her_ to see us."

"Who-" But then he saw exactly who. A figure on a metal contraption was zooming around the skies above Amity.

Some of the residents of the town, including Mr. Lancer, had seen her around, hunting ghosts. She had become a sort of hero to some.

"She's a ghost hunter," Danny confirmed, like "ghost hunter" was one of the scariest things on the planet. As the boy dove lower over the tops of the buildings the teacher realized that a good, professional ghost hunter _was_ probably one of the scariest things to a ghost. And because Danny was half ghost, who _knew_ what kinds of painful experiments a ghost hunter would put him through to see what made him tick if any ever found out.

The man watched the hunter a bit more warily now.

"Please be out of range," he heard Danny mumble to himself.

"Out of range of what?" Lancer asked looking up at where he assumed the boy's head was. He felt weird, talking to nothing. The fact that he couldn't see his own body was unnerving him even more and he looked back at the huntress.

"Her-" he stopped. "Oh great!"

The girl had just looked at her watch. Mr. Lancer didn't see what was wrong. Then he heard it, a faint beeping noise. Suddenly, the girl pulled out a gun that resembled the ones Mr. and Mrs. Fenton carried sometimes.

"Where are you ghost?" she shouted, turning in the direction of the two, "I know you're here somewhere!"

Danny suddenly dived into an alleyway and set Mr. Lancer on the ground causing the teacher to become visible again.

"Get to the school," the teens disembodied voice said, "I'll ditch her and meet you there."

Lancer didn't like the idea of running off and leaving his student to fight some hunter on a hover-board who probably had no problems with rearranging the boy's internal organs. Who knew what trouble he could get himself into! The teacher turned to protest and saw the girl hovering above a building, her hand adjusting something on her mask.

"There you are!" she shouted, bolting for the alley.

Wait... her voice sounded somewhat familiar. Where had he heard her before?

"Shit!" Danny regained visibility and shot up into the open air above town.

"You can't get away from me!" The huntress threatened, taking aim at the ghost teen.

"Wanna bet!" Danny challenged, diving towards the road as the weapon spit out a series of dark pink blasts, each missing their target by almost nothing.

"Get back here!" the girl yelled at the ghost as he speed off, zigzagging through cars, people, and buildings, the huntress speeding after him.

The teacher watched, frozen to the spot in a sort of disbelieving sort of shock at the abrupt departure of the two teens. As they disappeared into the streets of Amity, the teacher was distinctly reminded of all the times Danny would dash out of his class with one excuse or another.

He wanted to go after them. Danny could be hurt... or worse. But, he had no idea where they were headed. So, he walked in the direction of the school, scanning the skies and hoping Danny would be all right.

That ghost hunter looked like she meant business. But who was she? She had sounded familiar to the man and he had a feeling he should _know_ that voice.

Did Danny know?

It was a good question. Lancer figured Danny would want to learn her identity in order to better hide himself. But, had he?

Lancer shook his head. He'd ask Danny about it later.

If there was a later...

_No_! He couldn't think like that. Danny's in a better condition to take care of himself.

But his associates are in a better condition to kill him. Despite what was said about Phantom, Danny wasn't the type to purposely hurt anyone. But that ghost hunter looked like she would have no problem tearing the boy apart limb by limb.

'He's gone this long' a part of him argued.

'So had Chris' another part countered.

Chris...

He shook his head and scanned the sky again as the school came into view. Mr. Lancer looked for signs of his other students, but it seemed like no one was there.

Of course, that didn't mean much in this town.

He retrieved his keys form his pocket as he neared the door, locating the one he needed. As he opened the door he scanned the skies once more.

Where was Danny?

He walked towards the library, his footsteps echoing in the empty halls. When he reached the double doors to the haven of books, he heard a shushing noise and some indistinguishable whispers.

Probably, Miss. Fenton, Miss. Manson, and Mr. Foley.

He inserted a second key in the lock and opened the door. A thump came from somewhere to his right.

"Alright," he said, briskly walking over to the origin of the noise, "I know you're there."

"Mr. Lancer!" exclaimed Jasmine Fenton, standing quickly, a guilty smile on her face. "You startled me! I didn't think anyone else would be here," she said, picking a book up off the floor and hastily placing it on the shelf. She obviously wasn't the greatest liar.

"And what about those two?" he added with a slight smile, gesturing to where he supposed the three had been hiding.

Two freshmen, a Goth and a tech-geek, stood slowly.

"We... uhh..." Tucker stammered.

"We were-" Sam was cut off by a figure suddenly flying through the ceiling to land by her, his back to the teacher.

"Sorry it took me so long guys. I ran into a bit of trouble," Danny apologized as blue rings spread across his body, changing the black and white jumpsuit to jeans and a tee.

"_Danny_!" the three exclaimed in horror.

"What?"

Instead of answering, Miss. Manson seized the boy's shoulders and spun him around to face his teacher.

"Mr. Lancer, we can explain-" Jazz began.

"Guys, chill. He's already found out," Danny said, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder.

"What!" they all yelled.

"W-When? How?" his sister asked.

"Just a little while ago. That's what I wanted to tell you guys," Danny explained. Jazz just stared between the two. Tucker did mostly the same. Sam folded her arms across her chest and glared at nothing in particular.

"You won't tell anyone, right?" Tucker asked.

"No, Mr. Foley, I won't," answered Mr. Lancer.

"Can we talk for a minute?" Sam asked, and, without waiting for an answer, she seized the two boy by the collars and dragged them out of earshot, Jazz following. They sat at a table that someone had picked up during their absence. The teacher went to the librarian's desk and took his bag off the top (A janitor must have left it.) and observed his pupils.

Out of the four, Mr. Fenton appeared to be the most calm. His sister seemed a mite less frantic that the other two teens, but it was obvious that all three were worried about what this would mean for Danny's well being.

They spoke for a bit in relative calm, until Jazz said something that the teacher could tell upset her brother. Danny threw his hands down and stomped his foot as he replied, gesturing wildly as he went on, getting more frantic. Finally, he sat heavily in the nearest chair and held his head in his hands.

As Lancer wondered what the 16-year-old had said to upset Danny so much, Sam put a pale hand on the boy's shoulder and sat next to him. She told him something and Danny looked up at her. Jazz added something and Tucker commented as well. Danny smiled and nodded.

Tucker turned and grabbed a chair as the youngest Fenton made eye contact with the English instructor. Things were apparently settled.

For now at least.

Lancer walked over, noticing Sam gave him a distrusting look as he came to a stop by the opposite end of the table. The Goth, apparently, wasn't as trusting as Danny and wasn't going to take the teacher at his word. Jazz took a seat across from Tucker and set the bag she had been carrying on the table, unzipping it and taking out her laptop.

Sam was also, apparently, perfectly content with sitting on the table instead of a chair and situated herself next to Jazz and close to Danny. The aforementioned teen chose to sit on the back of his chair, using the normal seat as a foot rest, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin on his hands.

The teacher was perfectly happy standing nearby. He felt out of place among the group of teens and sitting would probably make him feel even more awkward.

"So," Danny said, lifting his head to look at his tech-geek friend, "Whata ya got?"

"Have," Jazz absentmindedly corrected, not taking her eyes off her computer. The teacher suppressed a chuckle.

"Whatever."

"Well," Tucker said, glancing at Mr. Lancer with a wary half-grin, "Haven't found anything on the ghost yet. But the scythe..." The boy messed with his PDA for a couple seconds before setting it on the table.

On the screen was an accurate drawing of the same scythe the ghost had wielded. Under the picture was the thing's name.

"Dusk," Danny read, as Lancer walked around the table to get a better look, "Ancient weapon of strange power. Said to have once been the weapon of a rogue who used it to her own discrepancy. Not much is known about what her intentions may have been, but it is rumored the weapon was hidden and protected before her death so no one could ever again wield it. Typical."

Now that he had a closer look at the weapon, Lancer saw that each ruby was cut in a perfect octagon.

"What about this former owner? Any pictures of her?" Danny asked.

"There's a drawing of what she _could_ have looked like according to a description of her," The redheaded Fenton replied, bringing it up on her screen. She turned the computer so her brother and teacher could see it.

"Not her," Danny sighed in a defeated sort of way. "Eclipse was years younger."

"There's more on the scythe though," Sam said, getting up and messing around on the laptop. "Here."

The site had no pictures of the scythe like the other, but instead had a jet-black screen except for the white wording and little dancing grim reapers swinging their blades. The teacher raised an eyebrow.

"How official is this?" he asked the girl.

"It's linked to from that other page about the scythe," she answered, folding her arms across he chest. "Just because its looks are unique compared to all those other 'official' looking site doesn't mean it isn't-"

"It's ok Sam. Breathe!" Danny said with a grin, placing a hand on her shoulder. The girl gave her teacher a small scowl as she sat back down on the table, reluctantly listening to her classmate.

Lancer watched as Danny's eyes speed back and forth as he quickly read the information, frowning slightly. It felt odd to see him look this serious. Actually, he had found all four of them were showing a different side he had never seen before.

"Alright. Apparently, after a lot of energy is used, the thing has to recharge," the boy read on for a bit longer before speaking again. "If trapping us in that limbo place required as much energy as I _hope _it did, she'll probably need at least a day to recharge. Hopefully more," he stated, looking up at the group.

"That'll give us some time to figure out what to do when she comes back," Lancer added. Sam raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything.

"Too bad we don't really know what she wants," Tucker said as he picked up his PDA. "She didn't say anything about that did she?"

The teacher and student shook their heads.

"No. Too bad she's not like Technus, " Danny answered with a slight grin.

"Who's Technus?" Lancer asked a little warily, his curiosity peaked along with his concern for the teens' safety. His students constantly being in danger wasn't something the middle-aged English teacher was ready and willing to accept.

The four made eye contact before Danny answered.

"The self-proclaimed ghost master of technology. Getting him to shout his plans to the sky is the easiest thing in the world.

"It's getting him to shut up that's the trick," Sam added.

"Kinda like Tucker," joked Danny.

"Hey!" protested the tech-geek. Sam just shook her head.

Lancer was taken aback by the sudden change in mood the group had undergone. The three made it seem as though they were discussing normal, everyday, teen problems.

"I think that's a little mean Danny," Sam said, and her bespectacled classmate nodded in agreement. "Technus isn't _that_ loudmouthed," she finished, a sly, evil grin on her face.

"Yea, he... Hey!" Tucker wined, giving the Goth an indignant look. "Why do you two always gang up on me like that?"

"You just make it so easy Tuck!" Danny laughed, Sam giving the boy and even wider and more sadistic grin.

Mr. Lancer made eye contact with Jazz, who had crossed her arms across her chest while attempting not to laugh, and gave a small, awkward smile which she returned. The redhead didn't seem to distrust the teacher like Miss. Manson did. In fact, Lancer reasoned that the Fenton probably felt slightly out of place among the other three friends as well, though to a lesser extent.

"So, do you know all of the ghosts that attack Amity?" the teacher asked the young hybrid, "All of you do?"

"About half the time, yea," Danny answered with a shrug. "Most of the ghosts I've fought before don't just stay in the ghost zone."

Ghost zone... that sounded familiar. Oh yes, when the teachers had all been briefed on ghost safety by the Fentons. If he recalled correctly, it was the place ghosts...uhh... existed.

"They come back? How?"

"Well, a lot just come through the ghost portal in my basement," Danny explained, "But shutting that down would be sorta pointless. There are other ways out of the ghost zone and it would just make putting the ones I catch back harder."

"How many ghosts _have_ you fought?" the teacher asked, knowing he was going to regret it but curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well..." Danny started, giving a quick glance at the other three, "I'd have to say, more than enough to loose count. Definitely somewhere over seventy different ghosts. And that's not counting when they attack twice. A lot of times it's like two or more ghosts a day."

Lancer stared wide-eyed. Over _seventy _ghosts! He _knew_ he didn't want to hear that answer. How had his student _done_ this for months _and_ had the time to actually maintain a passing grade? Not to mention he probably had responsibilities at home as well. No wonder he was always tired in class.

The teacher thought back to Thursday afternoon, when he first noticed how jumpy and watchful Danny was behaving. Well, it was no mystery now. All these ghost attacks and him trying to take care of them all. Lancer was surprised Danny hadn't gone insane from the pressure.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud blast of unrecognized music coming from an unknown location.

"Tuck Everlasting! What in the world?" exclaimed the teacher, his eyes darting around to find the source of the noise as Sam dashed behind a bookcase.

The ringing stopped and the Goth returned carrying a dark purple, spider-shaped backpack and holding a cell phone to her ear.

"Hello," she said, ignoring Jazz's mumbles of "In a _library_!"

The teacher distinctly heard a very mother-like voice beginning to scold the girl, who rolled her eyes and snapped the phone shut, cutting the woman on the other line off.

"You _do_ realize that she's gunna rant about that later right?" Danny asked his friend with a badly suppressed half-grin. The Goth just gave the phone a glare and stuffed it back in her bag.

"Hey, don't hurt it! It isn't the _phone's_ fault!"

Four pairs of eyes stared at the tech-geek, who looked down at the table.

"I'll just stop talking now."

"Speaking of parents, Danny, mom and dad will probably want us home for a late dinner soon," Jazz informed her brother, standing.

"Yea, ok," the boy answered, following suite, "You two wanna come?"

"Sure!" Tucker answered, hopping out of his chair eagerly.

"Do you have to ask? I'm _not_ spending dinner with my parents if I can help it."

Lancer faintly wondered what the Goth had against her parents as he secured his bag on his shoulder and retrieved his keys from his pocket.

The four teens walked out the door, Mr. Lancer following and locking the library up behind him. As the group walked into the fading afternoon light, Danny paused and glanced around.

"Uh, guys. Do any of you think it's been a little... well... _quiet_ for a while?"

Quiet? Since when is being attacked by a murderous, scythe-wielding ghost considered quiet?

"Yea, a bit," Sam agreed.

"Oh you two are just paranoied. Just because it's quiet doesn't mean-"

The tech geek was cut off by a loud explosion that seemed to come from further in town.

"Uhh... nevermind"

"_What_ in the name of Charles Dickens was _that_?"

"Sounds like it was near the Nasty Burger," Danny said, his normal carefree demeanor changing instantly to an alert and more concerned one. Before another word was uttered, Danny had transformed and taken off into town.

Tucker and Sam took one quick glance at each other and hurtled off after their best friend. Jasmine, on the other hand, headed to her car that Lancer just realized was parked across from the school and slightly down the street.

"Mr. Lancer," she called to the English professor, stopping halfway across the empty street, "I know what you're thinking, but he'll be all right. He knows how to take care of himself and I believe in my brother."

She could obviously tell Lancer was still not convinced, because she went on.

"Sir, you might find this a hard concept to grasp, but Danny, Tucker, and Sam _know_ exactly what they're getting themselves into. They know the risks." And with that she walked straight to her car, got in, and u-turned onto the street, the fact that she believed in Danny obviously not stopping he from speeding into town after him.

It didn't stop Mr. Lancer from following in his car either.

When the teacher arrived, he realized the source of most of the commotion was coming from a small jewelry store. There was shattered glass everywhere and occasional flashes of green and red illuminating the sidewalk from inside the building. Explosions and crashes coming from the store accompanied the rainbow of peoples' screams and other noises that are associated with mass panic. Miss. Fenton's car was parked not too far away.

Suddenly, the door was blown off its hinges and, for the second time that day, Lancer had to shield himself from the flying debris of a blown up wall. This time he had to dive behind a trashcan next to a lamppost, feeling the sting of bits of broken wood on his leg as he did.

He heard something slam against the post. Risking a glance over the bin, the teacher witnessed two rings of light change the unconscious form of Danny Phantom back into Danny Fenton.

An unforgettable laugh brought the man's attention to what used to be a doorway. His eyes were drawn to the glinting blade of a sickeningly familiar scythe and he gazed up into two blazing red eyes.

"Well well well. What a wonderful chance this would be to obliterate the both of you," Eclipse said tauntingly, "But, alas, I need to go and replace the ruby he broke before I run out of juice. See ya boys!" She gave a tiny wave and spun he scythe in a circle, disappearing with a 'pop.'

Lancer emerged from behind the trashcan and kneeled down to examine his student as Sam, Jazz, and Tucker came running out of the store.

"_Danny_!" Sam cried as she rushed to the boy's side, Jasmine and Tucker right behind her.

Lancer checked for a pulse. There was one, faint, but there. But, the 14-year-old was in bad shape. He had various bruises and cuts all over and shards of glass were tangled in his hair. His arm a one nasty, deep-looking cut on it that was gushing a river of blood all over and had already begun to further stain his already bloodstained shirt. He was completely unconscious, possibly a head injury.

If he wasn't helped soon, he would die.

* * *

And I'm done typing for today. I'll try to update as soon as I can but my computer is going psycho on me. I thing it's been possessed by an evil ghost. (_Gasps_) Eclipse! Get out of my computer! You evil FIEND! Ack! Clockwork help! (_Throws clock at the computer. The computer totally stops running and starts to emit smoke._) 

...On shit... Review please! Or, you can join my computer and flame. (_Runs of to call 1-800-905-GEEK_)

_...and scene_


	11. Chapter 11

**_DISCLAMER:_ Hey! It's amazing! I've found time to write while keeping two jobs and surviving my nagging mother! WOOT! I also apologize for the lateness and blame the things mentioned above and Kingdom Hearts II and Windows Movie Maker for being so addictive. CURSE YOU!**

**First off: Merrick - I just went back and reread that fic and your right... It does sound a lot like it. I had read it a while ago and I guess, when I was writing this, my thoughts got so jumbled up I forgot the line between my ideas and what I read. That said, I PMed her and asked if she wanted me to change it around some and she said it was ok and "great minds think alike." But, thanks for drawing my attention to that. I would have hated to be accused of stealing.**

**Ok, now that that's done, Phantom Shade - I think I already answered you but I might as well inform everyone else too. I don't know how much longer this will be, but I do have a sequel planned where all your questions about Chris will be answered. As for the not-so-big plot, I wanted this story to be mostly about Lancer finding out and his reaction along with Danny's reaction. The sequel, however, will have more of a big plot... I hope. Again though, this isn't finished yet... I still have a few tricks left. (Insert evil laugh here)**

**Now, thanks to my wonderful reviewers: mordechaimalachai, The Bushranger, Merrick, Wingg-ed Wolf, Kassii, phantomshadowdragon, Iaveina, Ghostboy814, Diamond Unicorn, acosta perez jose ramiro, Althea Astera Renata (hope to see that picture soon!), horselova32312, Phantom Shade, dPhantoMfreak, Pterodactyl, and Sparky the Wonder Weasel. **

**My computer is still slightly fried so please excuse the mistakes, as my brother's computer doesn't have spell check. I an, however, glad that a friend of mine can help proofread these along with Jeff. But, alas, she is only human and Jeff is a squirrel so... it probably won't be perfect. (Not saying YOU aren't perfect Becca, so please don't kill me!) (Ducks flying lunchbox of doom) **

**BTW: Hey this is a silly question I know but what do you call the headband things that those anime guys wear? Are they just headbands or is there some sort of special name for them? **

**Oh, and another question! What's the difference between a cloak and a cape? ;**

**Last question I swear! What would you name an evil organization of ghosts out to kill ghost hunters? (I need some ideas for my dark fic)**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter 11**

"He needs to get to a hospital, now!" Mr. Lancer said. "I can take him in my car and you three can follow in-"

"No, Mr. Lancer. He can't go to a hospital!" Sam insisted as she slung her backpack off her shoulders and retrieved a first aid kit from inside.

"What are you thinking, Miss Manson? His injuries are far too serious for-"

He was cut off yet again, this time by Jazz.

"Look, Mr. Lancer, I know it looks bad," she said, and the teacher could tell she was trying not to cry while Tucker and Sam attempted to bandage her brother, keeping her eyes firmly on her teacher, trying to make the man see sense, "but doctors ask too many questions. What are they going to do if they get a hold of a blood sample? Or if Danny's powers act up because he not conscious enough to keep them in check?" She looked pleadingly at the teacher, her eyes shining with the tears she was holding back.

"But, where can we take him? We can't possibly help him without a doctor!"

"We can go to my place," Sam suggested, "We have a family doctor who won't ask questions."

"Sam, your parents won't let Danny through you door," Tucker reminded the Goth, "And if they see him like this they're bound to call his parents."

"Well, where else can we go?" Sam asked waving a roll of medical tape in the air.

Then, Lancer got an idea.

"We can take him to my house and you can tell that doctor to come there."

The three glanced at each other before and, after some split-second, unspoken communication, nodded. Jazz fetched a key-chain from her pocket and handed it to Sam.

"In my trunk is a blanket. Grab it and get Tucker to help you lay it in the back of Mr. Lancer's car," she ordered before she helped Mr. Lancer carefully pick up Danny and move him into the man's car before anyone decided to come back and check to see if the fight was over. Sam sprinted off.

Tucker went into the store and retrieved Danny's backpack and the silver thermos the teacher had seen before and packed away the first aid kit. He and Sam had patched up Danny's smaller cuts and gotten the glass out of his hair, but the slash on the boy's arm was a different matter. They had bandaged it up as best they could, but it would still need some sort of medical attention, even if Danny healed fast.

Jazz wanted to ride with Danny but she had to drive her car, so Sam was the one in the teacher's front seat, a worried look on her face as she kept an eye on the unconscious form of her friend in the back.

"How much longer?" she demanded, her tone slightly sharp, like she was only thinking of Danny's health at the moment and anything that got in the way of that would meet a gruesome fate involving all the horrible pain she could inflict with a cheese grater...

Or something like that.

"Not much longer. We only have a block to go, then-"

He was cut off by Sam's phone ringing for the third time during their short ride to the teacher's home.

"Hello."

Mr. Lancer didn't need to ask who it was. Jazz had already called two other times to ask how her brother was.

"He's not looking good Jazz. I've called the doctor and told him where to meet us. What about your parents?"

There was a short pause followed by something hurriedly said.

"Ok," Samantha said, then hung up. "Danny is studying with Jazz at the library then might stay at Tucker's house," she informed the teacher looking at him as if daring the man to protest.

The teacher nodded and the girl turned to face her friend again.

"How much longer?"

"We'll be there in less than a minute."

"Hold on Danny," he heard the Goth whisper, never taking her eyes off the boy.

Lancer pulled into the driveway and quickly got out of the car. But, he wasn't nearly as fast as Miss. Manson, who already had one of the back doors opened before the man had put a foot on the pavement.

Jazz's car parked on the side of the road and she and Tucker emerged and sprinted over to the two.

As he was carrying Danny into the house, it suddenly dawned on Mr. Lancer how _light_ the boy was. Admittedly, the teen _was_ half-ghost, but he wasn't prepared for the near weightlessness of the boy and how easy it was to carry him.

As he laid Danny on the couch and the group crowded into the man's small living room, the doorbell rang. Mr. Lancer took a quick glance at his student then rushed to answer it

"Is the young Miss. Manson at this residence sir?" asked a short, thin, slightly balding man. His hair was white and he carried a brown bag with **Dr. J.M.** printed on the side in tan lettering. He sort of looked like a friendly old grandpa.

"Right here Dr. Jacob," Sam called from beside the couch.

"What seems to be the problem young Miss?" Dr. Jacob inquired as he stepped over the threshold and into the little home.

The Goth exchanged a quick glance with Tucker and Jazz. Miss. Fenton made eye contact with Mr. Lancer in a fashion that clearly said 'help keep as much secret as possible.'

"It's my friend, Danny. He fell through a window."

If the doctor thought anything about that statement sounded odd, he kept quiet about it. Without another word he went to the boy's side and inspected him closely.

Lancer had been officially overwhelmed now. One of his students was half-ghost, had been fooling the teacher since the beginning of the year, and was now possibly dieing on his living room couch.

Everyone handled crises differently. Some paced. Others ate chocolate. Mr. Lancer had to keep his hands busy. He went to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. The teacher had found that coffee also had some sort of calming effect on his nerves, and his nerves needed to be heavily sedated at the moment.

As he watched his cup fill with coffee his mind went a mile a minute.

Could he have stopped this from happening? Maybe... If he had stopped Danny from going off... No. He wouldn't have been able to do that. But now Danny was hurt, badly. Was he going to be ok? The doctor would help. He had to. Danny would be fine. He wasn't going to loose one of his students.

Not again.

His worries were interrupted by a soft voice outside the kitchen entrance.

"It wasn'tyour fault Sam."

"If I hadn't let go of the thermos he wouldn't have gotten hit."

"Sam, it's not-"

"No Jazz, it _is_. And if he doesn't make it... if-"

"You can't think like that. Danny will be ok." There was a small pause before the 16-year-old continued. "Hey, he's been through worse, right? The ghost king, Plasmius, _and_ an evil, alternate, jerky, future self... a few scratches won't take him down." Jazz's voice gave a small shudder, as if she was attempting to convince herself too. But, that wasn't what caught the teacher's attention the most.

He's been through _worse_ than this? He didn't want to imagine anything worse than...

Wait a minute...

_Evil_ _future self_?

But a moan from the living room threw contemplations to the back of his mind.

Danny!

He heard the girls rush to the couch and the teacher hurried to do the same, abandoning his half-drunken coffee on the table.

"You shouldn't be attempting to sit up young sir."

"Danny, listen to the doctor. You could hurt yourself more."

"_Doctor_?" The boy's voice had a badly masked tone of panic. Then it became a little more relaxed and perhaps slightly embarrassed. "Oh, Dr. Jacob... uhh... nice to... err... see you again?"

Again?

Dr. Jacob just gave a nod and a small smile before he turned to Sam.

"He needs to stay in bed for, at the least, a week. If he overexerts himself he could do even _more_ damage. And _try_ to stay out of trouble." He added to Danny, giving the boy a small wink.

"I don't know _what_ you mean sir. That window was just unstable. I don't see how _I_ could have anything to do with it." Danny answered.

"Okay, if you say so." The man smiled at Sam, picked up his bag, and left the house.

"Where's Eclipse?" Danny asked the moment the front door shut.

"She left almost right after you were knocked out. She said something about repairing her scythe," Tucker answered.

"She wasn't gone as long as I thought she'd be. Though, I wouldn't have known she was robbing that store if the Box Ghost hadn't accidentally blown up that power box."

"Box ghost?" Lancer asked, confused.

"He's a moron," Danny answered shortly, trying to get up.

"Whoa there Danny," Sam said, placing a restraining hand on the boy's shoulder, "You heard what Dr. Jacob said. You need rest."

"Dr. Jacob doesn't know how fast I heal," Danny countered, struggling to rise.

"Yea well, we _all _know you don't heal _that_ fast Danny," Jazz replied, sitting on the back of the couch, "So just relax, you need your strength for later."

Danny gave his sister a small glare before seizing a pillow from by his feet and placing it behind him to prop himself up against the armrest.

"There, relaxed. Now what about Eclipse?"

* * *

Ok... I think I'll just stop there and type the rest up later. I was gunna put more but I figured it was high time for an update. Again, sorry for the long wait.

Thanks for proofreading Becca!

Oh! Last question! If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why? Mine would be the power over whether 'cuz I could fly _and_ totally barbecue my enemies! Haha!

Review or flame to your liking!

(_Runs off to listen to the opening theme for Kingdom Hearts II_)

…_and scene_


	12. Chapter 12

**_DISCLAMER: _Ok! After being threatened with a building I wanted to update A.S.A.P. So I tried to get this up here fast so, again, excuse any spelling/grammar errors please. My computer still isn't working at all! (_Looks nervously at her computer as it hisses evilly_) Eclipse, you're being very _mean_ you know!**

**Ok… the reason it seemed Danny got better so quickly was because Lancer, being the person he is, was overreacting slightly. He doesn't really know much about Danny's powers or healing at the moment and didn't realize that Danny is tougher and can heal faster than normal humans. That being said, I'm working on this story from Danny's PoV too and Danny is still feeling weak he just won't show it. He _is_ still having trouble sitting up, let alone standing. I _really_ need to update that second story…**

**To my reviewers! You all have been wonderful. Your feedback really helps! So, Sparky the Wonder Weasel, blindyourears, Pterodactyl, dPhantoMfreak, Esme Kali Phantom, katiesparks, emotigone crazy, Kenna, Sasia (please don't drop a building on me, it might hurt my computer!), Ghostboy814, silvermoonphantom, -StarPhantom-, jessicajason, mordechaimalachai, acosta perez jose ramiro, Billie Jukes, Evilwings, ****aussie-dreamer, and kawaii chibi shun** **you all get virtual cookies! And look! They have Danny Phantom sprinkles! **

**And everyone who responded to my questions: A big thank you! And some of your chosen superpowers were cool…Let's see… we got…**

**-Different types of morphing (also referred to as shapeshifting)**

**-_Controllable _time travel**

**-Creating things with a wave of the hand**

**-Telekinesis **

**-Pyrokinesis **

**-Flight**

**-Teleportation **

**-Superspeed **

**-****Invisibility**

**A nice list there I must say! Though shapeshifting seems to be on a lot of peoples' list. **

**Huh… I like these poll questions… I imagine I might do another at the end of this! **

**I must say that Sam seems to be the hardest person to keep in character. I really don't know why though. Please forgive any personality mistakes on my part. **

**Ok! Onto the story!**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 12**

Sam rolled her eyes and sat by Danny's feet while Tucker occupied a nearby chair.

"Well, if she comes back you need to be _rested_," Jazz said firmly, giving her brother a meaningful glare.

Danny folded his arms across his chest, wincing as he moved his left, and frowned at the empty fireplace. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all glanced at each other then at Danny; all three apparently not convinced that Danny was 100-percent better.

They sat in silence for a minute before Mr. Lancer ventured a question he had wanted to ask since he found out his student was a ghost.

"Will someone please explain this all?"

The four glanced at each other and Danny gave a defeated sort of sigh before he started explaining.

"Well… I told you about the accident right? And how that made me a half-ghost, a.k.a. a halfa." Lancer nodded slowly, busy recalling exactly how Danny became… what was that word… a halfa.

"You were inside some portal… right?"

"My parents ghost portal. Right."

"What about the ghosts you fight… How do you…? I mean…" The teacher found it hard to put his question into words.

Danny seemed to get the drift though. They spent a good chunk of time discussing Danny's enemies and powers and some more memorable fights. Danny mentioned ectoblasts, flight, intangibility, invisibility, ectoshields, strength, healing, and his failed attempts at duplication. The man also learned about some of his enemies: the Box Ghost, Technus, Spectra (He found it frightening that that lady was a ghost and he practically shoved his student into her clutches), Youngblood, Ember (He knew something was off about that woman), Skulker, and Pariah Dark.

However, Lancer didn't hear anything about a Plasmius or an evil future self. He was debating on whether to bring it up or not. On the one hand, he wanted to know _all_ of Danny's enemies so he could possibly help, but, on the other hand, he didn't want the girls to know he was eavesdropping and Danny probably didn't want to talk about it if he hadn't brought it up.

So, he decided to ask another question on his mind.

"You said the term for half-ghost was a halfa. Does that mean there are others?"

* * *

Well, I am going off to another week of work and I wanted this up here. I like this cliffy! And I hope you do to!

Yes, Danny is being the stubborn hero and trying to save the world before he's healed... crazy.

B.T.W: Same poll question for those who haven't answered it! I haven't given some off you enough time... and I can't think of a new one at the moment! (S_heepish grin_)

Review and you get cookies! Flame and you will face the wrath of my computer _and_ get cookies! Mwahahaha! (C_hucks Flaming Boomerang of Death at her computer_) Stupid thing! (_Computer blows out her wall_) Stupid human!

…Uh oh! It has a brain! It's 'I Robot' all over again! Aaaahhh! (_Runs and hides with a bucket of electricity frying water_)

…_and scene_


	13. Chapter 13

**_DISCLAMER: _After the shortness of the last chapter, I decided to make this one extra long! Yay for me! And I just found out that school starts on my BIRTHDAY! NOOO!**

_**Dramatic much?**_

**Shove it Bill!**

**Anyway…sorry for taking long. First, I wanted to update more of Slipups Suck. Second, I just couldn't get this to go the way I wanted. I don't know why but I HATED this chapter… I don't think I'm gunna particularly like the next one either…(_shrug_) But I don't think there's much I can do to fix it since I sorta wrote myself in-between a rock and a hard place and I need a way out. Sorry if this sucks.**

**Review props to AkoyaMizuno, Ghostboy814, silvermoonphantom, Sparky the Wonder Weasel, PotterPhan21, emotigone crazy, Sasia, purrbaby101, horselova32312, phantomshadowdragon, dPhantoMfreak, Bunny Bubble, crazymonkey101, Witch4ever, ****PhantomShadowKat, ****mordechaimalachai, kennyk12, kawaii chibi shun, Wingg-ed Wolf, DP fan, Elys, Kenna aka Kassii (My advice, write stuff you enjoy writing, otherwise it'll be no fun), Phantom Shade (Don't worry, you get a cookie too), chaotic.calm, kennyk12, and Samantha Seldowitz. May stars shower upon your heads.**

**A big special thanx to my proofreader Unicorn8911! For trying to review and the site wouldn't let her she gets a cookie in the shape of Vlad with colorful icing! Yay!**

**Yea… I'm in a strange mood…**

**Quick questions…sorta… We haven't seen Valerie since FwD. What's up with that? Has she kept that new outfit? How much can it do? **

**However, to help me get this done faster, we're gunna pretend she still has her old suit but FwD still took place and Danny still dated her. Ok?**

**_Just nod and smile_.**

**Oh be quiet Bill!**

**Anyways… Ignore my incessant babbling.**

**Oh yea! And, in my fic, I have determined that Jazz doesn't know Valerie is a ghost hunter. I don't think Danny's told her yet and I don't think he will.**

**Poll question: Who is the best-looking villain you've ever come across. They can be boy or girl, from a book or a fic or a cartoon or a game or anything… maybe not a movie 'cuz then you're going by the actors/actresses but you can give me those too if you want. And if it's too hard to pick you can give like a top 5 or something.**

**B.T.W: The thing still won't let me put the line I want in between my talk and the story so please forgive me for the odd format.**

**Oh… and I do have reasons for some crazy little things that seem random and unimportant… It'll be explained later. Or maybe only in Slipups Suck. I don't feel like telling yet. (_Evil grin_)**

**DEATH TO BACON!**

**Enjoy!**

_**-----S---T---A---R---T-----**_

**Chapter 13**

It was like the entire atmosphere suddenly tensed and the teacher felt like he had broken some sort of unspoken rule. But he didn't take the question back. He wanted to know.

"What makes you think that?" Danny asked quickly. He was the most visibly nervous and he wouldn't meet Mr. Lancer's eyes.

"Well, normally when there's a term for something, it means there's more than one."

Danny shot a split-second glance at the other three who all looked back at him as though they had no idea what to say here and they were going to take their cues from him.

"No there's not anoth-" He stopped and meet Lancer's gaze. "Yes. But… I can't tell you who he is."

"Why?"

"I just… can't. I… He would find out and you wouldn't be… safe. …And then Plasmius'd take it up with me." He said the last part to himself so quietly that the teacher could barely hear it.

Lancer nodded, pretending not to have heard the name slip. He didn't want to push Danny into putting himself into a dangerous situation. He also didn't want to be in danger himself. Who would?

So, Plasmius was a halfa as well… ok…

…

Who was Plasmius?

He stored the question away for later. Right now he was more intent on hearing about some of the fights Danny had been through. You know… to get a better understanding of what his student was up against…

Ok, partially because they were _really_ interesting too.

"So, Danny starts scratching his butt and the gorilla jumps out of _nowhere_ and starts tearing Skulker to shreds! It was great!"

"I only had to do that 'cuz _you _lost your PDA."

It seemed that Tucker was really the one enjoying telling the stories. Danny interjected whenever he thought his friend got some fact wrong or "conveniently omitted" something. Jazz would add her view on something every once and a while. But Sam sat in silence, seemingly torn between wanting to join in the storytelling with her friends and her distrust of Mr. Lancer.

Eventually, she apparently couldn't take it anymore when Danny asked Sam to retell how she kicked Technus' butt in a videogame and the boy met her angry violet eyes with his baby blue ones.

They went on for quite some time, the teacher getting more and more concerned with each story. The man realized that he couldn't keep Danny from ghost hunting without risking the town's safety or he would stop this all right now, but… there had to be _something_ he could do to help.

But first, he wanted as much information as possible. He _was_ a teacher after all.

"Ok, one last question," he said when the group finished recounting the time a ghost took over Danny's body and trapped Danny in a mirror in his locker, "That red hunter girl. Who is she? Her voice sounded so familiar."

Tucker nearly dropped his PDA and made a frantic grab for it as Jazz looked up, her curiosity peaked. Sam's expression was unreadable.

"It…It's not my secret to tell," was all Danny answered. His face was calm but his eyes shone with a slightly pained look.

Jazz, for reasons unknown to the teacher, seemed slightly annoyed and looked at her watch.

It was 9:45.

"Come on Danny. Your curfew is still ten. I'll help you to the car."

"I don't need h-" he started to say as he rose to his feet before he nearly crumpled to the ground. Tucker and Jazz each caught one of his arms. Unfortunately, one of them went intangible and he landed hard on his left shoulder on the floor. He rolled quickly on his back and winced.

"Ok… maybe I do."

Jazz and Tucker exchanged a worried glance before hoisting Danny to his feet.

"Thanks for your help Mr. Lancer," Jazz said, giving the man a small smile.

"What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't help? No thanks necessary."

"No, it _is_ necessary. Thanks… for everything," Danny said weakly.

Lancer was taken aback by the obvious gratitude in the boy's voice and, as he shut the door behind the teens, he thought there _had_ to be a way he could help Mr. Fenton avoid getting hurt or into danger.

Perhaps, if he could just figure out who the hunter was, he might be able to find a way to keep her from tearing Danny apart.

Problem was… where should he start searching for answers?

He yawned and shook his head. He'd think about it tomorrow after some rest on that stiff mix of springs and fabric he called a bed.

Unfortunately, Lancer spent the next day trying to figure out how to get the small bloodstains out of his couch and grading the papers he should have finished yesterday.

So, the question of the huntress' identity was put to the back of his mind and, after reading one particularly horrible essay by one of his students on _The Scarlet Letter_, the teacher was wishing it was a _four_ day weekend.

As he rubbed his temples from the headache he was starting to develop, he thought about Danny and wondered how the boy was faring. He seemed pretty hurt yesterday but he acted like he wasn't. Why? What teen wouldn't want to play the sympathy card and get as much special treatment as he could? He'd seen students do it all the time. He'd once witnessed a sophomore girl who had exercise induced asthma constantly "forget" her inhaler to get out of gym class. Or one boy who did something to his arm and had it in a sling _much_ longer than he was probably supposed to so he would get class notes given to him instead of writing them himself.

But, the more he thought about it; Danny had come to school with various injuries all throughout the year. In fact, from what he heard yesterday, the teen had come in with several bad injuries and the teacher never noticed. The boy was all too good at hiding them. It probably helped that he was a fast healer.

Still, Mr. Lancer decided he would check up on his student.

"Hello, Fenton residence. Maddie Fenton speaking."

"Hello, Mrs. Fenton? This is Mr. Lancer."

"Oh! Hi Mr. Lancer!" she answered, a tad startled, "Is there something the matter?"

"No, not at all. I was wondering… might I speak to Danny?" then, for good measure, he added, "It's about his most recent test." Guilt pocked him in the chest but he ignored it. He didn't want the boy's mother to find out until Danny was ready to tell her or it was extremely important for the boy's safety for Lancer to tell her.

There was a short pause on the other line before she answered, "Yes, he's right here."

There was another pause as the phone exchanged hands.

"Hi? Mr. Lancer?"

"I'm just calling to check up on you, Mr. Fenton. And to tell you that if you haven't healed by Tuesday, you need not come in."

"Oh… yea _that_ test," he said and Lancer was completely thrown.

"Mr. Fenton? What-"

"Yes… mhhm… yes…ok, sorry about that sir. My mom was still in the room." The abrupt change in conversation took the teacher off guard.

Of course, he was throwing his mother off.

Mr. Lancer was surprised that he took that much caution. But, it was understandable. He himself had, to his conscience's utter distain, told Mrs. Fenton he was calling about a test and it would have seemed suspicious if Danny had begun to talk about something else.

"Anyway, Mr. Lancer. I'm actually mostly healed so you don't need to worry 'bout me. One night's rest did the trick. By the way… what _was_ my grade on that test?"

Before the teacher could answer, there was a voice on the other end of the line and Lancer heard a muffled "Jazz, I'm _fine_!" from Danny.

His sister seemed to be taking care of his injuries and there wasn't much he could do over the phone, but the teacher still didn't like the idea of Danny being up and about. He could hurt himself further.

"You really should be resting."

"No, I'm fine. Jazz is just being _overprotective_." He emphasized the last word like he was directing it at his sister as well. "So… what did I get on that test?"

Lancer rubbed his temples. Boy was his student stubborn. "You never completely finished it. I _believe_ you ran out halfway through."

"Oh…right…"

'Although, in the face of the circumstances… I'm willing to let you retake it after school on Tuesday."

"Really?" Danny said, disbelief evident in his voice, "Thank you Mr. Lancer! Thanks a lot!"

"Yes, well you also have to be prepared for that discussion on Hamlet on Tuesday as well. Though I'm sure you've not forgotten _that_, correct?"

"Oh… yes sir," Danny answered in a manner that told the teacher he had completely forgotten about said homework.

"Well, I will see you on Tuesday Mr. Fenton."

"Yea, Goodbye Mr.-"

But, just then, the teacher distinctly heard the boy's father shouting about some device he had made to electrocute any ghosts in range.

Lancer didn't think Danny had even hung up the phone before running off, considering he heard a door slam then Mr. and Mrs. Fenton asking Jazz where Danny had gotten to.

The man hung up his phone wondering how Danny had kept his secret from his ghost hunting parents _this long_ without being tracked by one of the Fentons' ghost gadgets.

But, thinking back to last night when the four teens had described one invention that Jack had called "The Boo-merang," Lancer realized that the inventions _had_ locked on to poor Danny but Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were just refusing to see what was right in front of them dancing around in nothing but flaming underwear.

True, the teacher would have thought being half-ghost was a physical impossibility. But he also thought those closer to young Danny might realize _some_ connection between him and the ghost-boy. _Especially_ ghost hunters.

Lancer guessed it should be expected. He had found that parents could be awfully blind about their children.

Take the Baxters.

When the teacher had called about the fight Dash had started, Dash's parents had said that their "baby boy" was a perfect angel and Mr. Baxter gave the teacher a long rant about "rogue students" and "safety measures" and told Lancer that if anything like this ever happened again he'd sue both the school and the Fentons for all they're worth, then had hung up before the teacher could get in another word.

But he was going off on a tangent. He still had a sofa to clean and a ghost hunter to discover the identity of.

The first was easy. It was the latter that stayed foremost on his mind late into night. Questions about her chased each other around. The most pressing being "who was she?"

But another two were almost as irksome.

First. Why had her voice sounded so familiar?

Lancer puzzled over this as he sat in his kitchen listening to the night sounds of crickets, an occasional owl, and some loud whizzing noise, eventually coming to the conclusion that he should _know_ the voice and he would probably smack himself over the head for it later.

Second. What did she have against Danny in particular?

The way she seemed to be constantly after him and mostly him was curious. The Fentons went after any and all ghosts. So why did… he was going to deem her "the red huntress" … why did she have it out for Danny?

Could she…

That odd whiz became louder and Lancer gave the window a glare. The stupid noise was wrecking his concentration and, frankly, giving him a slight headache and-

…

Wait a second…

Lancer got up and walked over to the window and stuck his head out, the cool breeze hitting his face and slightly waking him up.

That sound. It was vaguely familiar.

He listened closely. The crickets chirped in the grass below. An owl hooted nearby and then…

_There_! He heard it again and recognized it. It was the same zooming whoosh he heard from the huntress' flying metal contraption only a day earlier.

He scanned the skies quickly and rushed out his front door, not even bothering to put down his coffee mug, still holding it as he scanned the skies again for the girl.

And he wasn't disappointed.

Just surprised.

Two figures sped into view. One was completely unrestrained, his snowy hair blowing back as he raced on in an attempt to escape the second, who was giving chase on a gleaming silver glider, a huge ecto-gun in her hands.

As they came closer the girl rose higher in the air, seemingly unaware of the English teacher below, too focused on her target. Danny, however, did see Mr. Lancer, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.

Lancer, on the other hand, was, yes surprised, but mostly worried. Danny had _just_ healed from Eclipse's assault and here he was, running for his life from a ghost hunter.

Well, _flying_ if you wanted to get technical. But that wasn't the point.

The whine of the ecto-gun brought Lancer back to what was now a very twisted reality and he saw the girl unleash a blast aimed directly at Danny.

Who was directly in front of Mr. Lancer.

_**-----S---T---O---P-----**_

Ok… 8 pages in word so… longer than my last chapter for sure. Again… I really don't like this chapter for some reason. It seemed lacking… (_Shrugs_)

Oh no! What will Danny do? And what will happen to Mr. Lancer?

(_Singsong _voice) I'm not telling! Hehehehehehe!

Anyway… review and flame if you wish it! It be the fuel that keeps this story chugging along!

I will try to update at least twice more before school starts but I'm not making any promises.

Bubbles bubbles everywhere, bubbles bubbles in my hair!

…_and scene_


	14. Chapter 14

**_Disclaimer_: Soooo sorry about the month long wait! I really have been busy! So many things have been going on! Some** **good, some not so good, and some absolutely amazing! But I'm back, although updates may be slower then they were. Senior year and all.**

**Review thanks to purrbaby101, Wingg-ed Wolf, Sparky the Wonder Weasel. Kenna aka Kassii, acosta perez jose ramiro, ****Esme Kali Phantom****Harm Marie****Blaidd Drwg****, chaotic.calm, kennyk12, dPhantoMfreak, Writer's-BlockDP, ****phantomshadowdragon****, Ghostboy814, PotterPhan21, 'Dark-Independent-Girl-101', emotigone crazy, Becky Yuy, DP fan, moonshinesonwolf, ****Arabic Blessing****Samantha Seldowitz****Phantom Shade****Bunny Bubble****Meagaisnttheworld****, and Jay. That you all for being patient! **

**Ok… poll question…ummm… ok… I'm in a really odd mood so please forgive me for this.**

**First: Name some songs that make you cry every, or almost every, time you hear them. Wanna tell me their reasons, that'd be cool too!**

**Second: Do you guys want Lancer to find out about Vlad? If so, when? This story or the sequel? Any other input on the story would be nice too… The Vlad question MIGHT have some swing on where I take this… too an extent. I already have a basic plan mapped out. And the sequel.**

**Ok… shout out to Pixie! You know who you are!**

**Extra special shout out to the Dark Monk! Miss you lots!**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter 14**

It was the second time in two days he felt he should run but was too frozen with fear to do so. He saw Danny brace himself and realized the boy was going to take the hit!

"Danny!"

_Bam_!

The explosion resounded through the air, the shockwave causing the teacher to be nearly thrown backward. HE saw Danny's body fall from the sky and hit the concrete, tumbling head over heals onto the curb.

"Yes! Perfect shot!" the huntress exclaimed. Lancer stared horrified at the motionless form of his student.

No, Danny!

A boy's body was sprawled, unmoving, in a pool of blood seeping out from under it. Brown hair hid the corpse's lifeless eyes from view.

Chris-

The predatory swoop of the huntress towards her prey startled the teacher out of his shock.

_Danny_!

"_No_!" he shouted, running to stop the girl.

"Wah- Mr. Lancer? … Uhh… I mean… What do you think you're doing here?" the girl demanded, startled. "Leave me to this. I have a job to do." She pointed her gun at the boy at her feet.

Lancer ignored the nagging urge to ask her how she knew his name and instead took hold of the barrel of the gun and tilted it upwards, stepping between her and his student.

"I cannot let you do that," he stated in an oddly level voice as if he were speaking to one of his students.

"What! Why?" she argued.

Just like a student.

The English teacher in him decided to use that to his advantage.

"Because, I don't believe you would be doing this town any kind of service. So, I say you just put that blaster away," he let go of the gun, "and talk like a civilized person."

The girl stared at him, completely at a loss for words, her gun uselessly dangling at her side, before seemingly shaking herself from her stupor and doing what Lancer had seen teens do in these situations countless times.

She got angry.

"You're not the boss of me!" she shrieked, "_I_'_m _the ghost hunter here and _I_'_m_ going to do my _job_ and _you_'_re_ not going to convince me otherwise! Why are you _protecting_ him anyway? He destroys peoples' homes and terrorizes this town! He's an evil ghost and doesn't care who he hurts or about the damage he causes! The lives he ruins! _He_ _deserves to_ _PAY_!" And with that, she pointed her ecto-gun around Lancer and directly at Danny.

Or… she would have, if he were still there.

"_Damn it_!" she cursed as she stomped her foot, "Look what you did! He got away! Teachers! _Urg_!"

But then her watch beeped and the gun flew out of her hands, enveloped in a florescent green glow before it exploded and Danny appeared behind the huntress dusting the remains off his hands, a grin on his face.

"Night Valerie!"

The girl spun and, in an instant, was knocked out.

"I really wish I didn't have to do that," Danny sighed, looking depressed as he landed and transformed back into his pajamas.

Lancer gaped at him.

"Did you just say… _Valerie_?"

The boy froze.

* * *

Mwahahaha! Evil cliffie! (_dances around_)

Sorry about the shortness and the really bad cliffie, but I wanted it to end there… I have the next chapter written, no worries. I just gotta find time to type it.

Yea… that's probably a worry…

Oh well. Better get to it!

…_and scene_


	15. Chapter 15

**_Disclaimer:_ (_Grumbles about evil college apps_) Hey… umm… sorry about the loooong update time. Heh… yea how long was that like… more than two months? (_Grins sheepishly_) I'm sorry! Don't hurt me! (_Ducks_)**

_**And didn't you promise yourself you would never do that?**_

**Yes, _thank you_ Lamia.**

_**No problem.**_

**Yea well anyway, I just haven't had a lot of time and I've had, and I know I'm repeating myself, a lot of stuff going on. But I'm rambling and I don't want to take up time listing all the things I had to do so, moving on.**

**Thanks to Wingg-ed Wolf, Pterodactyl, Meagaisnttheworld, Harm Marie, DP fan, De-Schim, The Fluff Ghost, ghostlover15, Nanyxa, jessicajason, Kellie Fay, purrbaby101, PotterPhan21, Blaidd Drwg, dPhantoMfreak, TexasDreamer01, ghostanimal, Icepaw, Ghostboy814, phantomshadowdragon, kennyk12, The Great Silver Sharpie, Kenna aka Kassii, Sasia93, Vickie 06, mordechaimalachai, DP fan, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, flarey phoenix, Sapphire Wolf Master, Samantha Seldowitz, wierdIT, Katie, Cyllwen, and magpie8spook! (_Takes deep breath_) Wow… that was long…**

**Oh! The first couple of the flashbacks for Valerie were of my own design. I mean, there's a lot of undocumented time to cover… right?**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter 15**

"Uhhh… No! I said… uhhh… Mallory! Yea, Mallory!" he tried weakly, giving a nervous grin.

_Sorry I'm late sir. I had… uhh… stuff to do?_

_I don't see why everyone is so blind to how evil that Phantom is!_

_Mr. Lancer?_

_Teachers! Urg!_

_Night Valerie!_

"_The Mystery of Edwin Drood_! How many of my students are involved in this ghost mess? First you four, then Miss. Grey-"

"Valerie isn't-" Mr. Lancer gave him a stern look and, surprising the teacher slightly as he had half-expected the young half-ghost to challenge his questioning, the boy backed down.

"Ok, but… it isn't her fault! She's just… confused. I… there's this ghost… her dad's job… there was this dog, I mean…" He was getting flustered, but what amazed the man was how he was attempting to excuse the actions of someone who repeatedly tried to exterminate him like a cockroach.

It hit him then how serious this situation was. It seemed so long ago that he had thought his students, for the most part, uninvolved in the activities of Amity Park's local, formerly anonymous, hunters. Now to learn they were _both_ his _students_… and one was trying to _kill_ the other…

"I should get her home," Danny said, picking up the girl, the fact that he could carry people so easily even now seeming strange to the teacher.

And those spaceship pajamas weren't helping either.

Danny looked up at him. "You aren't gunna tell her you know… are you?" he asked anxiously, eyes pleading.

Lancer blinked, taken aback at the boy's concern. Though, admittedly, Valerie would probably not be too overjoyed towards Phan-Danny if she found out he had blown her secret. But, if he could guide the girl in a less… vengeful direction, he might be able to cut down on all this insanity. (Though the teacher was still unsure as to _why_ she was so violent towards the boy in the first place.)

"I do not know Mr. Fenton," he replied shaking his head, "I will have to think about it."

His student gave a small sigh and nodded, then froze; a blue mist that the teacher remembered had been deemed the boy's "ghost sense" escaped his breath.

"Oh no," Danny groaned before scanning the area. Lancer followed suit, but didn't see anything unusual.

"Where's-"

"I don't know," said the young Fenton, answering the unfinished question, eyes still darting around.

"Perhaps it was a mistake," the man suggested, hoping he was right.

"Maybe…" Danny trailed off, sounding unconvinced. But after a few more uneventful moments he relaxed.

"I'd better-" the boy started before he gasped as his arm suddenly went intangible and Valerie's legs slipped right through, Danny nearly loosing his balance. The boy cursed loudly.

"What happened?" the teacher asked worriedly.

"N-nothing. Just… nothing," his student replied, scrutinizing his hand closely, supporting Valerie with the other. But the teacher knew an evasion when he saw one. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the boy, one of his many "teacher stances."

"That was hardly 'nothing' Mr. Fenton."

Danny tore his eyes off his arm and picked up his unconscious classmate once again.

"No, it's fine. Just having a few… problems. That's all."

Lancer noticed the boy was determinedly not meeting his gaze. Miss. Grey stirred slightly in her sleep and Danny looked down, eyes wide. The teacher gave an inward sigh. It would do no good to have her wake up here.

"We will discuss this later," he told the boy, who relaxed ever so slightly before transforming and taking off.

The teacher watched him go, his concern growing.

He was still trying to get over his discovery that _five_ of his students risked their lives _every day_ being caught up in all this ghost mess. He had been in a state of almost shocked consent and the severity of it all had not truly hit him until then. One of them was trying to _kill_ the other and one had gotten in as far to have half-_died­­_ already! They had gone through things no child should _ever _have to go through.

Not that the fact that they _shouldn_'_t_ have to deal with it meant that they _didn_'_t_...

He couldn't let this go on the way it was; someone was going to get hurt. And what's more, it now seemed something was wrong with the young Mr. Fenton's powers.

He recalled stories of some slipups and close calls young Danny had had after his accident. His various dropped lab beakers (The boy had been officially banned for life from handling any and all fragile school property) and his many cases of pantlessness, all of which could be traced to his powers. If he lost control of those…

The teacher walked back towards his house. Ok. One thing at a time. _Focus_. Pick a problem, figure it out, and_ then_ go on to the next one.

His thoughts drifted to the young Miss. Grey and he looked back at where the two teens had long since disappeared.

Should he tell her he knew?

Well, she would most definitely not react in the same way as Mr. Fenton. Valerie's attitude was a great deal more offensive than Danny's and her independent friendships were much different than the outsider, almost loner, Danny was.

No, he wouldn't tell her. If it had been Danny he probably would have done the same. But, he would like to try and make her see some sense. Her heart was in the right place but she needed to drop this fixation with Phantom… er… Danny.

Something about those two being one in the same he knew would always be somewhat fantastic and hard to grasp no matter what. It just seemed too much like something out of a cartoon.

He shook his head. Next problem was Danny's haywire ghost powers. From what he understood, Danny's near-misses had become virtually non-existent after a while. So, what was going on now?

The boy was having trouble with his control, that much was obvious. (Lancer would have to have a chat with the child about his language sometime.) Question was, why?

Finding his front door locked, the teacher reached into his pocket for his keys and mentally slapped himself before turning to walk back down the stairs, his mind still on his peculiar student.

Was Danny loosing control because of his fight with that ghost girl? It would make sense if she were capable of something like that. Danny's abilities had slipped at the teacher's house after that fight; Lancer hadn't missed that. The boy had gone intangible and fallen through Mr. Foley's arm! Could ghosts mess with the abilities of other ghosts? He wasn't sure. The man faintly recalled something about certain ghost weapons that could, but would Mr. Fenton being half-ghost affect that in an odd way? The boy certainly _exhibited_ the same powers as other ghosts, but were they somehow _inherently_ different?

The teacher walked under one of the windows of his house and shifted a rock covering a small hole.

The teen _could_ use his abilities in both of his identities, like while trapped in that dome or his encounter with Dash.

But something about that nagged at the teacher.

_If my stupid reflexes hadn't kicked in…_

Lancer grabbed the small, silver house-key from the hole as something in the back of his mind clicked. Danny had blamed his reflexes, but what if…

What if the _real_ reason was his abilities running rampant?

He walked back up the steps to his door. So, if the boy's problems had been present _before_ Eclipse, the ghost girl couldn't have caused them. Though, that was only an "if" and it still didn't rule out a ghost weapon of some sort. Perhaps something made to weaken a ghost gone wrong? One of the Fentons' gadgets…

Or one of Valerie's.

He gave a frustrated sigh as he walked inside. This was _insane_; these were _children_! They shouldn't be putting themselves _in_ these kinds of situations!

So…

He glanced at the telephone on the wall.

So why not get on the phone right now and stop them from carrying on this recklessness any longer?

* * *

Ok, sorry that was short but I wanted to get _something_ up. Not too many chapters left… I think. Though, I wouldn't swear on that. 

Poll: Name a favorite quote! Any quote is fine, no specific place it has to be from. Need ideas? You could visit my profile! _Hint hint nudge nudge wink wink_. (_Smacks self in the head_) Ignore that blatant plug please.

I'm not promising to update sooner but I really am going to try. I still have a lot of stuff going on though. Just please bear with me here. This _will not_ be abandoned!

Any questions feel free to leave in a review and I'll try to answer them. I don't know how much sense this chapter made.

Now I'm off to do many things at once. Ah the joys of multitasking.

…_and scene_


	16. Chapter 16

**_Disclaimer:_ I'm not even going to waste time apologizing, yet again, for the long wait. Just know I really don't mean to.**

**Thanks to ****PotterPhan21**** (Kim Possible), ****Arabic Blessing****Wingg-ed Wolf****Sapphire Wolf Master****Egyptian Ghost Kitty**** (Will the mafia buy mine? I really hate homework), ****HiddenAuthor****Danny Phantom Phanatic****Ghostboy814****, TexasDreamer01 (Thank you!), Kenna, ****dark-angel miyuki**** (I would still love to see that pic!), ****Harm Marie****Angel Frog**** (That was classic), ****kennyk12****Sasia93****Viskii**** (Thank you! I love getting new readers in the middle… or nearly end… of a fic. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside), ****candidus-lupus-full Moon****DP fan****Vobi****, watashiwapikushidesu (Yes, you are a pixie), ****phantomshadowdragon****, MM (I'm going by the name at the end of the review here), ****Phantom Shade**** (Wait! When did Vlad get a cat! WHAT AM I MISSING? _Breathes heavily)_, and Reader (I'd love to read that fic) for your reviews! Almost 300! WOOT! Whoever is number 300 gets a special virtual DP character plushie of your choosing! All of you get special Wulf cookies that, after being consumed, will take you into the reality/world of your choosing. Bwaha!**

**Ok… so this is the second to last chapter of this story. That makes me sad. I think I'm going to go on a writing spree for SS before posting the last chapter of this or I'll just give away too much. (_Evil grin_) Yes, I know, Incognito Bob makes me evil. Hehehe.**

**Now without further ado:**

**Enjoy!

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**

**Chapter 16**

He walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver, his finger hovered over the buttons.

Did he want to do this?

It was for their benefit; they would be out of danger. Their parents would surely not allow their children to put themselves in harm's way.

_You won't tell anyone, right?_

_No, Mr. Foley, I won't._

He would be breaking his word to his students and they would most likely never trust him again, but he had dealt with that before. If they were safe it wouldn't matter. He stared at the phone.

So why didn't he call? He didn't know what was holding him back.

No. That was a lie. He knew why.

It was Danny.

He clicked the phone off and hung it up, sighing.

That boy had shown maturity far beyond his years. He had shouldered burdens many _adults_ would avoid. He chose to use his powers to help rather than for personal gain, or worse, to harm.

The man shook his head.

No. He was getting off task, distracting himself. Mr. Fenton was putting his life and the lives of his friends at risk and that _couldn_'_t_ continue. Danny would be fine if he stopped playing "Phantom." The boy was better off showing his nobility through other, less life threatening, ways.

Lancer picked up the phone again, about to dial, before he stopped once more.

What about the town? Yes, perhaps Danny didn't need to be "Phantom," but did the town? Phantom had saved many people from various circumstances. He had rescued the teacher himself at least twice. Could the town still be safe without him?

Lancer again set down the phone, then immediately snatched it up again with a frown.

There were other ghost hunters, older ones who knew the full risks of their line of work. This was a _14-year-old boy_! He had no need to put himself in harm's way, ghost powers or no. He had no need to be "Phantom."

He was halfway through dialing when he cut himself short, clicking the "end" button.

He was thinking about Danny and Phantom as two separate people. But they weren't.

No. _He_ wasn't. "Phantom" and "Danny" were one in the same.

His frowned deepened and he again punched in numbers.

It wasn't like the man was asking Danny to give up a part of himself.

He paused.

Right?

He gazed unseeing at the mouthpiece, finger hovering over the "send."

It was like the teacher was dealing with a whole new person, like he had never even met his student. The child he had known didn't exist, not since months ago.

Or…

Or had that person always been hidden where no one could see? Had the accident really enabled Danny to show more of himself to the world? The boy had no motive to defend Amity the way he did; he had never done the town any harm. So, the teen had to have a strong sense of responsibility to do what he did and the boy Lancer had seen hadn't. The teacher was sure a sense of justice and duty doesn't develop from a chance lab accident, no matter how many "powers" included in the package, which meant the boy had to have had that before. Which meant he had missed that part of the boy entirely. He hadn't truly known Danny at all.

But he was still in danger! He was still just fourteen!

But mentally, was he?

Yes?

No?

Lancer glared at the receiver and flung it back on its base with a cry of frustration before striding out of his kitchen, up the stairs, and to his bedroom, telling himself it was too late to call anyway.

By the next morning, the teacher had deemed the day to be one of recreation and no paper grading or lesson planning at all. He ignored the voice in the back of his mind telling him to work and even slept in until eight! However, he spent a lot of his waking hours pondering his students' ghost situations.

Not that he had made any progress in puzzling out any sort of helpful solutions. By lunch, he had gotten so frustrated with deciding on a course of action he had decided to just take a walk.

He made his way through town, his feet taking their own route as he was caught up in his musings. He was vaguely surprised when he looked up and found himself in front of the Fenton's.

"Mr. Lancer?"

The teacher spun in surprise, nearly falling over as he did so.

"Mr. Fenton, do not sneak _up_ on people like that!"

"Sorry sir," Danny replied, rubbing the back of his neck, a guilty look on his face, before it changed to one of confusion and, the teacher noted, slight suspicion. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just," he thought fast, deciding not to tell Danny he had been considering telling his parents his ghostly secret, "taking a walk."

The teen's eyes narrowed as he looked his teacher over quickly. Lancer pretended not to notice and went on.

"So, did you get Miss. Grey home alright?"

"Oh, yea," Danny answered, seeming to come to some conclusion, "Yea, she's ok. Still not so fond of Phantom but…" He trailed off, an awkward silence settling over the two.

"Well well well. Isn't this quaint. Why is it I always find you two together? Am I really just that lucky?" a voice from behind asked, sending shivers up Lancer's spine.

"The hell!" Danny muttered to himself, spinning to face Eclipse as his ghost sense left him.

"What? Surprised to see me? You didn't think I had forgotten about you two did you?" she asked sweetly, both hands holding her scythe in front of her like a child would a picnic basket.

Danny placed himself in front of Lancer and glared at the ghost.

"Why are you after him too? He has nothing to do with this!"

"That's my business kid. But I think you'll find he will soon have _just _as much to do with 'this' as you." She gave a sly smile and sent a blast at Danny.

The teen immediately sent one back seemingly on instinct. The two blasts met and exploded as Danny grabbed Lancer's wrist and pulled him running through his front door.

"Mom? Dad?" his student shouted, shutting the door behind him. When no answer came Danny sprinted into another room, Lancer following. "Good. Not home. Come on." He motioned to Mr. Lancer as they hurried through the kitchen to another door. Danny wretched it open and they rushed down the flight of stairs into what looked to be a lab.

Danny seized a small gun from a nearby table and handed it to Lancer, who blinked.

"An ecto-gun?" he asked, guessing as to the type of weapon in his hands.

"Yea. You can use one right?"

"I suppose so," the man replied, thinking back to the teacher training session the Fenton adults gave on their weapons.

"Good. Wait here, I'm going to get something more effective from the weapons vault. I'll be right back," the boy said quickly, two rings of light changing him into Phantom, and flying through the roof.

Lancer blinked again.

They had a weapons vault?

But his thoughts were interrupted by Danny's fast return with was looked like a large modified grenade launcher. He raised an eyebrow.

"Ecto cannon. More potent than an ecto gun." He held it out to the man and Lancer took it, feeling slightly odd. It was heavier than he had expected. Not to mention that it felt insanely strange to be handed this, or any, type of weapon by one of his _students_.

But before he could say another word, Danny's ghost sense went off yet again. Mr. Lancer thanked whatever force had given him that power for the early warning of a ghost's arrival.

The ghost, in this case, was Eclipse as she descended through the ceiling in front of them. Beside him, Danny dropped into a fighting stance. Lancer fumbled for a better grip on his weapon. His movement got an amused eyebrow rise from the ghost.

"You have a little toy, hilarious." She spun her scythe carelessly at her side. "Not that it makes much of a difference. You're both meat."

Before either could retort, she launched a blast at the teacher. It streaked towards him faster than he could react, but Danny was there in an instant, creating a glowing green shield around the two of them, struggling to hold it as Eclipse bombarded the dome with crimson balls of energy.

"This may not have been the best idea."

* * *

Wahh! All that left is chapter 17! Nooo! I'm gunna miss this. But don't worry. I have a sequel planned. But I might not start it for a while. We'll just have to see.

On a random note. I was looking through pics on DeviantArt and I can't believe how many characters there are out there named Eclipse who wield scythes. It kinda surprised me. Maybe it's the half-moon shape, I don't know.

Poll question time!

How many of you watch the superbowl? Why or why not? I like the funny commercials mostly. The game is only interesting if I know a team that's playing… meaning today I'm watching it for the commercials.

Oh! And I have a new challenge! As I have said before, I am making a new story that's in a tad darker direction than this one. I have this evil organization of ghosts as the main antagonists and I really want to see them drawn. So, if you would like to try drawing one you have a choice between Barnabas, Semele, Nyx, Boa, Torin, Daryl, and Xanir. All ghosts, the oldest is Barnabas and the youngest is Boa. There will be short descriptions of what they look like in my profile and you get creative license from there, you can even ignore some of what I give if you want (If it's cool I might even change my mind as to the appearence). Or you could try drawing Eclipse still! Whatever you want. If you do decide to draw any of them or all of them I would love to see it!

And to all those who read SS, I will post an update for that next. And Laelia has recovered from her coma much faster than expected. While still very weak and unable to be released from the confines of her bed, she has already begun correcting Lamia's increased cynical issues and while things may not go back to normal that quickly, it's a start.

Ok, well. Until next time.

…_and scene_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Disclaimer**_** Wow… the final chapter! I think I might just cry! (**_**Sobs**_

_**Get odd stares from her many muses**_**) … right… I'll stop now.**

**I would have had this up weeks earlier but my computer corrupted my file and then I got grounded for a week (over a stupid **_**government**_** grade! I don't **_**care**_** about the government! I learn more from Law and Order than I learn in that class!) and then the APs and Spanish–**

_**Cough cough**__**Umm… you're ranting…**_

**Shut up! I have a right to rant! It's the last chapter and I'm a bit emotionally unstable and I have to let my baby go! WAAAHHH! (**_**Punches hole in desk**_

_**(Mimicking a clock) Coo coo! Coo coo!**_

_**Grumbles**_**You're next…**

**So onto my thank yous! First I'd like to thank Shadewolf7 for her review on chapter 8. Then I thank Me-agaisnt-the-world, PhantomShadowKat, X-Roosterrelli-X (Yes I believe you have reviewed before), Reader (I'm gunna e-mail you as soon as my e-mail is working again about that songfic), jessicajason, FantomoDrako, Kenna, PotterPhan21 (I do **_**recognize**_** it, what's it from?), Sapphire Wolf Master, ****mushroomcloudslooklikebroccoli (I completely agree with your name by the way), ****DP fan, egyptianqueen777, Quacked Lurker ( I apologize for my sporadic updating. I tried to update almost every 3 days before but then reality invaded my life… dang reality. Where's Freakshow when you need him?), Writer's-BlockDP, kennyk12, candidus-lupus-full Moon, Katie, Phantom Shade (I've now seen GNO and I **_**soo**_** want to see the rest of those that weren't aired!), Shadewolf7 (You reviewed twice you sly dog. Hahaha!), and Kittygirl3245 for all your reviews.**

**I'd like to give a special thanks to all of you who reviewed the first chapter when I started this little fic. I never imagined it to go this far and you guys have made it all worthwhile.**

**And a final special thanks to ****watashiwapikushidesu****for all her help with proofreading some and her assistance on the bus and everything else! I 3 you!**

**And now onto all the answers… mostly… (Any confusion and seemingly random character appearances will probably be cleared up in SS… anything that hasn't been explained fully in either of the 2 will be in the sequel)**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Chapter 17**

Lancer was just about to respond when something large and green barreled into the ghost girl, blindsiding her.

"What the-?"

"_Cujo_?" Danny exclaimed, a look of surprise and relief on his face. Lancer blinked.

Cujo?

He took in the massive ghost dog now bearing down on Eclipse and deemed the name duly accurate. The monster of a canine had a growl that sounded like thunder overhead and its red eyes gleamed threateningly. Lancer briefly wondered why on earth it had saved them before Eclipse pointed her scythe at its chest and blasted the ghost across the room.

The dog let out a howl of pain as it hit the wall and Danny's green eyes widened, his concern for the thing shining in them.

"_Cujo_!"

Lancer realized that the canine must be and ally of Danny's, as strange as that would seem. The boy rushed over to the whimpering dog that suddenly shrunk to the size of a small puppy, its eyes looking sadly at Danny. The teen whispered soothingly to the dog, getting down on one knee and petting his head.

"_Awww_! How _touching_! A boy and his dog," Eclipse cooed, "Makes me wanna puke!" She made a gagging gesture before breaking out into hysterical, malicious laughter. "You are so _pathetic_! Your only friends are two losers, a _teacher_, and a stupid mutt! It's hilarious! Oh, but let's not forget your crazy sister," She doubled over, gasping with laughter. Lancer saw Danny had his fists clenched, hard. And was he shaking? The teacher completely forgot his weapon as he watched his student, a feeling of foreboding settling on him. Eclipse continued, her sadistic enjoyment making the teacher sick. "I wonder what you'd do if they all _died_! You'd cry like a _baby_ wouldn't you?" but she didn't wait for an answer, "_Ha_! The poor wittle freak need his pwecious human fwends? _Haha_!" She fell back in insane laughter, floating in the air, her legs flailing before righting herself again and wiping tears from her eyes, sighing.

"Well I suppose we could just find out, couldn't we?" she mused ominously, all laugher suddenly gone from her cold voice, gripping her scythe in both hands and pointing it at Lancer, who's eyes widened in fear. "I'll just get rid of them. One." Her eyes blazed and a dark shadow fell on her face, making her look terrifyingly murderous. "By." the scythe began to glow and Lancer's heartbeat quickened as he lost his breath and all feeling in his legs. "One." Lancer turned his head away from the blade and towards Danny. This was it.

But just before Eclipse released the imminent blast, brilliant emerald energy flared around Danny's fists and the boy spun, intense rage blazing in his luminous emerald eyes, and unleashed the most impressive attack Lancer had seen him employ yet.

"_Shut __UP_!"

Eclipse was brutally launched into the wall, creating a sizeable dent in the metal. But Danny wasn't finished. With speed Lancer had never seen, the teen shot himself at the girl, apparently landing a punch but Lancer's eyes didn't move that fast so he wasn't sure. The boy seized the ghost by the front of her shirt.

"Don't you _dare_ touch _any_ of them," Danny threatened, his tone low and disturbingly calm, fury blazing in his glowing emerald eyes, "Or I will _personally_ make your afterlife _hell_." His voice sent chills down Lancer's spine and the man was immensely grateful that this boy was fighting for the town. He didn't want to see what would happen to Amity, to the world, if Danny lost his humanity.

But Eclipse just smirked mysteriously. "Would you?" she asked, a dubious look in her eyes, almost taunting, "If they all died would you _really_ keep to _just_ that?"

Danny looked trapped, confused. He blinked it away quickly, like it had never existed and instead looked suspiciously at the girl. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly _who_ I'm talking about."

The teen's eyes widened in understanding and surprise, but it wasn't long before he got his anger back and plowed the ghost girl into a table. Lancer ran to his side, intent on making sure the boy did nothing he would regret.

But, as he reached Danny's elbow and opened his mouth to say something, he remembered that Eclipse was _already_ dead. She was also a psychopathic ghost intent on destroying Danny, himself, and anyone Danny knew and _possibly_ the entire town. He was spared coming up with something else to say to calm his student, however, when Eclipse shot him with one of her ruby energy blasts.

Lancer went tumbling backward and into a second table, intense pain shooting through his arm.

"_Mr. Lancer_!" his student shouted, shoving Eclipse to the side and running to his teacher.

"Mr. Lancer!" Eclipse mimicked, scoffing. "Oh just join a _group_ or something! Your bleeding heart is gunna stain my shoes!" She laughed and aimed her scythe at the two of them. "Don't move ghost boy, or your human dies instead."

Danny glared over this shoulder at the girl, defiance shining in his eyes, but he stayed put as Eclipse shot a beam of crimson ecto-energy straight at his back. Danny grimaced as it hit and Lancer yelled. But the boy seemed to be fighting to keep quiet and bit his lip. Lancer stared terrified for Danny as the boy turned to him, his face contorted in pain.

"Get… out… of… here," the boy managed to say, falling to his knees, "_Go_!"

Lancer fumbled for something to do but his mind and body seemed to have frozen with absolute fear for both his student and himself.

Then something nudged his right arm and the teacher looked down. The ghost puppy was there, pushing something that looked like a cross between a small remote control and a hairdryer into his hand. Without thinking, the teacher grabbed it. He glanced at his student, Danny tumbled out of the way, and Lancer fired.

Whatever it was sent a brilliant orange blast at the ghost girl, knocking her into the now twice dented wall. Danny gasped for breath at Lancer's side as the teacher stood, holding the contraption in front of him with his right hand, his left hurting too much when he tried to move it, gripping the thing firmly, placing himself between the weakened Danny and the murderous Eclipse.

"You _bastard_ that _was_ not cool!"

"Nor was you attacking my student," Lancer replied, surprised by his own audacious. The girl, fixing her hair and rising from the floor, scythe in hand, gave another of her smirks and floated casually towards the teacher, who abruptly realized that his student was no longer behind him. He shifted around the ghost, never taking his eyes off her.

Eclipse held her scythe in both hands, turning slowly with his steps, "You don't stand a chance old man. I'm a ghost and you're just a human with two dead students." Lancer started. Two? How did she…?

"Hey Clipsy!" Eclipse spun at Danny's shout, seeming to have forgotten he was there. "Let me introduce you to the Fenton genetic lock." The teen placed his thumb on the pad and the large metal portal opened to the swirling green vortex of the ghost zone.

Lancer cleared his throat and the ghost spun back to him.

"This is for calling me old man." He fired the blast right at her chest and she was cannonballed through the portal, cursing. Danny quickly closed it.

All Lancer could do was stand there, breathing heavily, staring at the portal doors.

"Well…" Danny breathed, giving a small half-smile, "That's done." And with that the boy promptly fainted, those rings of light changing him back to not-so-regular old Danny Fenton.

"Some kid," Lancer mumbled before also passing out into the blissful, painless, darkness.

* * *

When Lancer woke up he was lying on someone's couch. After a few moments of disorientation he realized that it was the Fenton's couch and he vaguely wondered how he got there before everything came flooding back to him.

"Mr. Lancer? Are you alright?"

"Miss. Fenton?" Lancer asked, attempting to sit up. His arm, however, gave a painful throb and he groaned, clutching it as he remembered something else.

"Danny? Is he-"

"I'm fine," came Danny's voice and Lancer turned in his seat. The youngest Fenton sat there without a shirt while Miss. Manson was wrapping bandages around his back and Mr. Foley sat nearby. "Is your arm ok sir?"

"I don't know…" he attempted to straighten his arm and nearly collapsed again from the pain, "I think it might be broken."

Danny winced, a guilty look on his face. "I'm so sorry for dragging you into this Mr. Lancer. I never wanted to-"

"Mr. Fenton this was not your doing so don't take credit for it. In my book that's called cheating." He gave Danny a faint smile and the boy returned one of his half-grins, even Sam appeared to approve of the man's statement, a satisfied smirk on her face as she passed bandages around Danny's middle. "I just hope that Eclipse woman is gone for good," Lancer said, cradling his arm as he stood.

"That makes five of us," Danny agreed before something ran into Lancer's leg and the boy corrected himself, "Well, six of us." He laughed then winced.

"Of course," Lancer said, bending down to scratch Cujo behind the ears. The puppy yapped happily. "How could we forget this little weapons expert here?" Cujo barked once before running off around Mr. Foley's chair and jumping into Danny's lap. The boy gave the puppy an affectionate smile and scratched him behind the ears. The dog curled up in his lap, yawning, and fell asleep. The complete calm of the moment made Lancer feel fake, made him feel like a dirty rotten traitor for even _thinking_ of enlightening the Fentons about their son's ghostly secret.

"You can't keep him though. He can't stay here and he's too easily discoverable and Sam or Tucker's."

"He can stay at my house!"

"But what if he's _found_, Sam! It would be _horrible_ for him! Danny you _know_ how mom and dad are."

"But Jazz!" Danny said, placing a protective hand on the small dog's back, being careful not to wake him.

"No buts Danny he has to go back to the ghost zone for his own safety."

Lancer took one look at the puppy sleeping peacefully in Danny's lap and something tugged at his heart.

"I can keep him at my house."

Four pairs of eyes jumped to the teacher, all of them surprised.

"You _would_?" four voices chorused.

"Yes," he replied simply, as if he had just answered "what is the capital of the United States."

And that was that. With that one, single offer he had completely walked away from informing _anyone_ of Danny's half-ghost identity. And, oddly enough, he didn't feel bad about it.

There was a moment of silence before Danny leaped up, somehow leaving the still slumbering Cujo in his chair.

"_Thank you_! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" He danced on the spot before spinning and pointing a finger at his sister who jumped back. "Hahaha! In! Your! Face! I get a _puppeeeeeeeeeee_!" He danced excitedly around for about five more seconds before seeming to realize what he was doing; he stopped quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry."

The four teens burst out into simultaneous laughter, waking Cujo, who jumped down from the chair and began barking joyfully, running in circles. Lancer smiled, shaking his head at the outward normalcy of it all.

Well… except that the puppy was ghostly green, but if one could simply overlook that…

"But one question," he said, and his students quieted down, "What do ghost dogs eat?"

That got another chorus of laughter from the teens and the teacher joined. Cujo gave a confused yowl before yapping and darting into the kitchen as though he understood exactly what the man had said.

Lancer chuckled and looked out the window. He knew his life was about to get far more interesting.

"And this time," he glanced at his students, at Danny, "They're going to live to do great things."

* * *

Eclipse flew through the arched doorway. She had only been in this room twice before and everything it, and the rest of the castle, just made her uneasy. But nothing unnerved her more than both the childlike ghost in the room and the large screen he was floating in front of. Shaking the feeling off and telling herself that she was hardly important enough for anyone to even want watch _her_,Eclipse floated up behind the ghost intent on giving her report and getting out of there with her payment. 

"You had no reason to be so cruel you know," the ghost said simply.

"Hey, I did what I had to do," Eclipse defended, though there was not hint of accusation in the spirit's tone. "And it worked, right? Had to make him think I really did want to off him." She paused a moment before adding, "And the shrimp's still alive isn't he?"

The ghost gave a small, knowing chuckle at that. "I don't believe you could have, as you so eloquently put it, 'offed' him. Am I right." It wasn't a question.

Eclipse frowned. It was exactly that kind of all-knowing response that made her feel so awkwardly exposed around this place and the ghost that lived in it.

"I don't get the point of all this," she said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows expectantly. The time master was one of the oddest ghosts she had ever come across. How he even knew that the human would help the freak was beyond her.

"I wouldn't expect you to," Clockwork replied, morphing into an old man and turning to face her. The girl gave an agitated groan.

"Did you even _have_ a point?" she questioned. Her employer raised an eyebrow at Eclipse and she ever-so-slightly shrunk back, unnerved and a tad fearful. "…sir?"

The time master turned his back to her. "The child will soon find he needs all the help he can get," he stated, "It will take a great deal of strength to overcome the shadow that will escape into his world."

"Oh… So? It's not _my_ problem then. And I don't see why it's yours either, but hey, I don't care." Eclipse shrugged. She was telling the truth as well. What was it to her that some fourteen-year-old boy was going to have some sort of fight on his hands? It didn't affect her in the least, she had no personal care for any of those involved. Hell, when she was alive she hadn't even lived anywhere _near_ Amity Park; her family had stuck to the East Coast of the U.S.

Shaking off the though of her family, Eclipse brought her attention back to the matter at hand.

"But still…" her eyes flicked to the ruby adorned scythe, Dusk, leaning on its blade nearby. "I did what you asked."

"And you wish to have Dusk, as you believe you so deserve," Clockwork finished for her, turning back to face the annoyed ghost. Why did he have to _do_ that?

"Look," she said, her irritation and indignance outweighing her fear of the old ghost, "Twilight was _my _ancestor! That scythe is the only-!" she stopped, having said much more than she wanted to reveal to this ghost. Soon she'd be retelling her whole life's story. "We had a deal," she finished.

"And I will honor that deal. Take the weapon," Eclipse waited not a moment longer to snatch the scythe from its resting place, "but with my warning not to interfere in the halfa's life again. It would do no good for you to seek vengeance for your defeat."

"Ha!" she waved a hand, not taking her eyes off the scythe, "I don't plan on going anywhere near that town. Revenge for nothing isn't really my style." She scrutinized the rubies embedded in the weapon before she abruptly glared at the time master. "We're finished now, right. I owe you nothing." She was in no mood to be in debt to anyone.

"Nothing," he repeated, giving a slight grin, that infuriating I-Know-Everything look never gone from his face. "Though I would hope you never encounter any of my responsibilities again."

"Right…" She shook off her suspicion and recovered her normal cheeriness. "Well it's been an absolute _blast_ hangin' with you, but I gotta split." She gave a mock salute before zooming out the door, barrel-rolling in joy as soon as she was clear of the castle entrance. "Outa my way stiffs, Eclipse is coming through!" she hollered in laughter as she plowed through a group of old-fashioned looking businessmen, two of them toppling over like bowling pins in her wake.

Clockwork shook his head, his eyes betraying his amusement. Before morphing once again, this time into a young man, and turning back to the image on the Fenton's familyroom.

"Enjoy your peace now, Danny, and, when the time approaches, I hope you find all the strength you need."

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

It's finished! After 17 chapters and another 14 on Slipups Suck I'm finished with these two little stories. I thank each and every reader from the bottom, middle, and top of my heart! When Jeff and Bill strapped me down to do this… I mean… when I started to write this _completely_ of my own free will (_cough_)… almost a year ago I never expected it to receive this big a response, or for me to even _think_ about doing a companion piece. I enjoyed reading each and every review I received and I hope you all enjoy what I'm planning after this.

On that note... I have started work on a new fic from Dash's PoV called "I No Ur Secret" and yes it is purposely spelled that way. I also will either start the sequel to this (Mysteries) or that dark fic I've had on my mind forever (Not What They Appear) so I think it's only right if I give my readers a choice. (Though I might just end up screwing myself over and doing all 3 but whatever) The descriptions of those two are below. Yes I will be doing them while doing I No Ur Secret because that once shouldn't bee long at all. I plan on only making it about 5 chapters (Though I won't swear on that) and the description's also below.

**Mysteries: **The sequel to Slipups of the Ghostly Kind. Planed for a while but not started yet. Ok, Lancer knows Danny's a half-ghost, but he doesn't know everything. And when a new ghost shows up, worse then the last, Lancer must struggle with his past while Danny's own problems are trying to kill them.

**Not What They Appear:** A darkish fic inspired by a dream of mine. Involves the death of at least one character. (Probably more) An organization of ghosts watch the ghost hunters of the world and determine their threat levels. But, the Fenton's paranoia keeps the ghosts from getting close. However, years ago, they devised another way of monitoring the family. Now, 14 years later, Danny Fenton is caught up in a plot for the death of the hunters they deem a threat. Can he stop it with a traitor in his midsts? A traitor _no one_ would expect.

**I No Ur Secret:** Danny gets a note from Dash telling him that the jock knows his secret! Now, Danny has to keep him happy or he'll tell everyone! So what's the catch? Dash doesn't know a thing, just that Danny is always running off and he wants to mess with the "looser." From Dash's PoV.

Now I must be off to start on the next story. My muses are hard slavedrivers.

…Jeff, get that whip _away_ from me! I'm _going_ already… Lamia, _what_ are you doing? No! _No_! Not _that_! I'll move! I'll move! Just one last quick note ok!

Alright, so I hope to get your votes and your reviews and I'll see you in my next story 'cuz this one is, officially, done! (Though I will go back some time and fix all those spelling mistakes that are bugging the hell out of me when I go back to read it)

(_Takes final bow as she is dragged off by her evil muses_)


End file.
